The Only Son
by AngryOlympian
Summary: Waiting at his fathers deathbed, a boy named Herrry hears news that alters the world as he knows it, and changes the fate of mankind. Semisequel to Grande Finale.
1. The Hospital

**Before I begin, I want to get one thing straight.**

**The Herry in this story is NOT the same Herry in the series. You will understand in the end.**

**The story takes place 28 years after grande finale but it is not not really necessary for you to read it beforehand.**

Hi, my name is Herry and I lived a few minutes away from Toronto when this story begins. I never was the big popular kid in school but I had a few good friends in school. I play rugby and snowboard every chance I get. I have little luck with the ladies and don't party too much.

I was only 16 when my life changed forever.

I always thought spring days were meant to be exciting and full of life. This spring did not fit into that category for me. A few weeks ago, my dad got sick. Very sick. He had spent 2 weeks in hospital. On April 4th, I was called into the hospital. The doctors told me that my dad may not make it through the night. I spent the whole night in the waiting room. I had my ipod in listening to kid cudi. But even my favourite artist couldn't stop the overrun of fear and despair. Nothing would help it. My dad was about to die. He had raised me mostly on his own. My mother was taken away when I was six and sent to a mental hospital. I never heard from her or saw her since. My dad took it pretty badly but he continued to raise me. he never went dating or anything.

I had taken the next day off of school. Telling them that it was a family emergency. It was, except I was all that was left of my family so it seemed. I saw him earlier last night before they sent me out. Saying that he needed to rest. I fell asleep in the waiting room. i was the only one in the room. it was just me, my ipod and my homework. I never did get round to do it.

Around 8AM, I wake up to see the doctor. He had a grim expression on his face. I was ready to embrace the news. Ready to cry.

"Are you the son of Jay Ryerson?" he asked me. I simply nodded.

"There is no easy way for me to tell you but..." Here it comes i told myself.

"Your father has gone missing. He was not in his room this morning." My hopes raised a bit. He could still be alive.

"What do you mean he is missing?" I asked.

"We checked the security footage. It was shut down. At one point he was there, the next, he wasn't. We are starting a missing persons case immediately." At the same time, my heart sank. He may not have gotten far. He was due to die last night but now he was somewhere, unconscious maybe even dead. The doctor left me in the room once again alone. I was starting to get used to it now. I ran through different possibilities of what could have happened. he could have been kidnapped or maybe his sickness made him a zombie or something. It was hopeless. My dad was as good as dead. I began to cry, remembering memories between him and I. I remembered all the stories he told me about Greek Gods and Titans battling it out for power, and I remember when I was really small, my parents would both take me to a cemetery in New Olympia. I never knew why but I remembered the long and torturous drives there. They did it every year on October the 20th. My dad later told me when I was 10 that it was a war cemetery and October 20th was the aniversary of the New Olympia War when the first ever inter speices war ever occurred between the human race and a still unknown alien species.

I was reminiscing for an hour when the doctor, my dad's lawyer, and a tall, African American man walked through the doorway standing right in front of me.

The tall man reached out his hand and said;"Hi. My names Odie Gahler, but you can just call me Odie. I am an old friend of you father and I'm going to be your guardian from now on."

Odie escorted me out of the hospital and into an open top, blue Ferrari. This guy was rich. He drove me to his home. We talked along the way.

"So how did you know my father?" I asked him.

"We were friends in high school. We, along with five other friends including your mother, all lived in the same dorm." Odie had a warm smile and shiny white teeth. It made me feel slightly better and comforted me. He said more. "I have to say, I haven't seen you since you were very small. You've grown up so much. You have your mothers hair colour and eyes and your fathers pointy chin."

I couldn't remember my mother very well but red hair and green eyes like mine were things I could remember very well.

I said, "I'm sorry if I'm not talking much. I just can't believe my dad is gone. He raised me by himself after they took my mother away."

Odie gave a sincere look. "He loved you. He still does. And don't worry. You will only have to put up with me for two mre years the you will be n adult and be free."

We pulled into his house. I take that back. It wasn't a house, it was a mansion. It was unimaginably huge with pine trees lining the gravel driveway. He opened his garage to see multiple cars. There were lamborginis, porches, atvs, motorbikes, the lot. It struck me.

"Youre THE Odie Galher? The man that single handedly ended the war in Libya?"

He chuckled. "The very same." I could not believe my dad went to school with this guy. The man was an absoloute genius and ended the Libya war in a similar way the Greeks won the war of Troy. I wondered if there were any connections.

He offered to take my bags in but I said that I would take them myself. He showed me to my room on the second floor. It was amazing. The room had shelves and shelves of books with a sunroof. he bed was king size and had a neat little lamp at the side for reading. Not that people buy books anymore. It is all digital.

I wandered through the spectacular room. Odie smiled at the door.

"Unpack your things and come down in an hour for lunch." He smiled and walked downstairs

**That is the first installment of this story. Please review! :)**


	2. The Mansion

**Its good to see you enjoyed the first chapter. I am aiming to make this my best story. :)**

I slept for around 45 minutes mostly from the comfy bed. I spent around ten minutes watching youtube videos on my ipod, trying to cheer myself up. There was a funnny video of a famliy of ducks being blown away by the wind. Quite amusing.

I walked down the grand stairway with my stomach growling. I was in the hallway. I looked up at the golden chandelier above my head. Only a billionare could afford it. My grandpa on my mothers side was quite wealthy. When he died a few years ago he gave all the money to my dad because his only daughter was in a mental institution. Big move. I never knew what happened to the millions of dollars he inherited. Knowing my dad, he would have donated a lot to charity.

Odie called for me. "Herry, I'm in here!"

I followed the voice to what appeared to be his office. It was right beside the hallway with a tall window overlooking the front lawn. He was sitting in a large leather chair behind an ornate mahogany desk. He seemed to have a pile of papers in his hand.

"What are those?" I asked curiously.

He looked at the the papers and then to me. "Its your dads will. The lawyer who was with us in the hospital gave it to me to give to you. According to the will, your father has left you everything he owns including your grandpas fortune. He also appointed me as the second priority guardian."

"Second?"

"Well, the first priority is always family, then close friends."

"I see." I looked further around the room. I notice a metal door to the right. "What is that?"

He looked to where I was looking. "That is my laboratory. I am currently working on an antibody that can single out cancer cells independently and take it out."

"I see." I got the taking out cancer part. That was about all that seemed to matter. Odie put the papers down.

"Well enough talk. You hungry for some subway?"

I was starting to like Odie. He was a generous man and very optimistic. He was just what I needed at the time. We drove down to subway and each bought a footlong. I hadn't eaten all day so you could imagine how quickly the sandwich disappeared. Odie, a more slow paced individual, patiently chomped away.

"So where did your parents get the name Herry?" He asked after fiishing his sandwich. I was long done.

"They told me it was the name of a great hero who fought till his last breath." Its true. It is what they told me when I was little when people would call me Hairy Potter and other unpleasant nicknames..

Odie just smiled and looked at the table. "Indeed." He was obviously thinking to himself.

"So you must get rather lonely having no children or wife in that huge mansion."

"He looks up. "Actually I have a fiance. She's exploring Europe at the moment and will be back in a few days." His eyes widened. "She doesn't know about you."

I laughed for the first time in days. It felt like a weight off my shoulder. "Well she will be in for a surprise then."

We took our drinks with us back to the mansion. It was around two o clock and I was very much cheered up.

"Seeing as you now live here, I should give you a tour." Said Odie. I gladly accepted the offer. He showed me the kitchen and dining room first. The kitchen was a massive conservatory and had a huge fridge. I was at home. he then showed me the pool. It was April so I wasn't expecting for it to be open yet. But sure enough, it was indoor so it was open all year round. He showed me the other rooms like the laundry room, the basement, the living room, the master bedroom, the bathrooms. All as grand and glorious as the next. We ended the tour in the gaming room. This man had every gaming console to exist here and countless games. I noticed a picture on the wall though which got my attention more than anything else in the room. It was a photograph of seven teenagers no older than myself.

There was a big guy with a green shirt and cargo pants with a smile that stretched sideburn to sideburn. There was a smaller skinny boy beside him. It was unmistakably Odie. The glasses and and the grin had not changed but the physique had completely changed. The Odie that was my guardian was quite jacked while the one in this picture seemed so frail. There was another guy beside him who had a hollywood grin and beach blond hair. I had seen that face somewhere before but I couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Then there were two people with theeir arms on each others shoulders. One was a girl, the shortest next to Odie with scarlet hair and tomboyish style. The other person had a bizzare hair colour of purple. He wore blue shorts and a hoodie.

At the far left of the picture were two people. One was a built guy in a purple and yellow jersey with jeans. His hair was slightly highlighted at the front and he had bags under his eyes. The other was a girl. She had long, red hair and was piggybacking on the yellow purple jersey guy. She had those unmistakably green eyes and I knew at that pint;

These are my parents.

"Thats an old one." I snapped out of my trance to see Odie behind me.

"Is that really you there? You look so... er different."

"What can I say? I had a growth spurt."

I looked at my parents in the picture. They seemed so happy. A long as I could have remembered, my dad always gave off a sad emotion. Almost like a post-traumatic depression. He didn't stop his job and he kept looking after me, but he rarely smiled or laughed. I remember once, when I was eight, I had come home early from a friends house and I walked into my living room to see my dad against the wall crying. I never did learn why he cried that one day. All he did was send me to my room to go play. I didn't understand then. I was so small. But now I am older and I see how happy he was then. Something must have happened to my dad when he was younger. Something he never told me about. I was starting to question if I really knew my dad at all...


	3. The School

**Sorry for skipping yesterday! I decided to not do the next chapter. Why is still unknown.**

**Anyways, here is the third installment of The Only Son**

Odie continued to show me around the mansion. I was still boggled about that picture. What happened to my dad that was so horrible that he didn't tell me? My curiosity told me that I should try and learn about it. Another part of me told me that some things are best left unknown. It was like having a devil and an angel on my shoulders. Swapping again and again.

Odie led me into a room in the basement with thick walls. Inside was a drumset, bass collection, guitar collection and some serious amps.

"I had this made a few days ago." Odie said, "Your dad told me about your little hobby so I felt that you might need something to get him off of your mind."

My mind was blown. I had only been playing bass for a few years now, but this huge collection of thunderbirds, les pauls, fenders, were stunning. They made my cheap and cheerful ibanez look like a dogs chew toy. I used to be in a band in grade 8, but I left once I started highschool because the lead guitarist had too much of an ego and didn't care much about the others. So I quit. I knew my buddy Sean, an Irish immigrant who moved a few years ago, had some decent guitar skills. I decided I should have him over here. He would literally jizz his pants.

I didn't hesitate to grab a fender bass from the rack, plug it in, crank the volume and start jamming. Odie himself actually sat down on the frums.

"You play the drums?" I asked.

Odie chuckled, "I was in a band in university. we didn't get far. We didn't plan to." He started a beat that everyone on the planet should know.

Dani California by Red Hot Chili peppers. A classic. We spent a good hour jamming to some older songs like the Killers, Kings of Leon and of course, Green day. odie didn't know much in the way of newer music but hey. Most adults don't.

We spent the rest of the night relaxing. Odie cooked up an awesome stir fry with rice. Rice was and still is my favourite food. Goes with anything.

As we sat at the grand dining table, Odie said;

"You know, I understand if you don't go to school tomorrow. I know how hard it is for you at the moment."

I pondered for a bit. I was still distraught about my dad. Who wouldn't. But I had missed two days of school and I was getting beg=hind. Besides, the first practice of the rugby season was tomorrow.

"Don't worry. I'll go." I replied. He simply smiled and continued eating.

I woke up early for school. Odie told me he would drive me but I insisted on biking. I needed fresh air and the school was pretty near the mansion. Just a few blocks.

I went to a public school named Craigleith High. It had about 1200 students. Being Toronto, there were countless different cultures and racial origins. My grandmother was greek, but besides that, my family was generally Canadianized.

As I walked through the hallways. I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Herry!" It was Sean. The immigrant I mentioned before. He had a thick Dublin accent and was a bit obnoxious. Brown hair with a chiseled chin. A bit of a stoner too. But he was still a fun guy to hang out with. 'So where you been te past two days ya mad bastard?" He sounded so enthusiastic. I did disappear without telling anyone what actually happened. I haven't been on facebook or checked my texts in while.

'Uh, my dad died." The enthusiasm from his voice disappeared instantly. He barely visible eyes became very sincere.

"I'm so sorry man. I didn't know." He spoke quietly. He thought he hurt my feelings.

"Its alright man. Please. Help me get my mind off of it." he did that quite well. He rambled on about how he was pumped for the first season practice and how he was ready to deck some kids. It worked like a charm. We talked all the way to our homeroom which we both had. I was a bit late but our History teacher didn't really care. He was informed on what I had been through and didn't talk about it.

We were studying history of the 21st Century. Today we were learning about the Battle of New Olympia.

"Experts believe that the attack was by an extraterrestrial army. It was humanity's first and last encounter with such beings. Skeptists believe that they will come back again to exact revenge on their fallen comrades. The battle occurred on the night of the 19th to the 20th of October, 2011. While the military was involved, the majority of human resistance was The New Olympia Resistance, a band of the people of New Olympia who dedicated themselves to fight for their land. They were in a sense, freedom fighters. Their leader, rumours say was only a teenager but of great skill and power. The authorities agreed to keep him or her, anonymous to keep themselves from the press. It was also said that this leader was followed by six loyal classmates with unusual capabilities. Nowadays, they live among us as normal people like you and I."

That was the most interesting history class ever. I had written down every detail. Not because of the story, but of this teenage leader. My dad told me he lived in New Olympia during high school. There may have been a connection between this and my dad. Maybe Odie knew something. I wished my dad was still around for me to ask him this.

The rest of my classes went as normal. I got sympathy from teachers and friends alike. I felt like it was bringing too much attention to it. I didn't want to talk about it or think about it. But now classes were over, and it was time for some rugby!

Let me introduce you to the sport. While soccer is a gentlemans sport played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligans sport played by mostly gentlmen. It is a more organised, faster paced version of American Football. There are many rules to follow, but it doesn't take away the exciting adrenaline you get when you play. There are two main positions; forwards and backs. Forwards are the big guys. They do most of the contact. They charge into the other forwards, who are just as bid and move the ball forward. Again and again. i have alot of respect for forwards. Then there are backs. We are are faster, but smaller and more nimble. We use our energy in short bursts. I am an outside center. At least I was last year in grade 9. The idea is that when we get the ball, we book it up the field and make it as far as possible, maybe score a try. An outside centre is next to the winger. I'm not as big as the inside centre who is closer to the forwards, but I am larger than the wingers or full backs. Thats about as much as you need to know.

Practice went well. It was generally the same people with a few addons and losses. Over all, I just enjoyed having that ball in my hands. Everything went so smoothly, until we started practicing tackles on bags. We would all have a partner and switch over who took the bag and who charged. I worked with the inside center, Fred. A nice guy and fairly jacked. More so than myself. He tackled first. It went as I expected. He would push me back a few feet as he hit the bag. Then it was my turn. The coach was telling us to give it all we have got. So I bent my back low, readied my legs, and charge the bad which unfortunate Freddie was holding.

When he charged, he set me back a few metres. When I charged, I set him back across the whole gym. Everyone stopped what they were doing in shock. Fred was against the wall, as he slid down, you could see that the impact dented the wall. I was completely in shock. I ran to help him but he was so scared of me now, he wouldn't let me touch him. It was unreal.

"Are you OK?' I asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. When did you learn to tackle like that? You could knock out Luke the 8-man (biggest guy on the team) out with that hit."

'I-I didn't." I simply said. Fred wasn't hurt. But how the hell did I do that? It was like I suddenly had super strength like superman or something.

The coach patted me on the shoulder, "You all right? You seem worried." Coach really gets into a game and was not afraid to yell, but he seemed concerned.

"Are you on any medication that we should know about"

"No!" I sharply replied. He looked offended. I took a deep breath. "I think I am going to take a walk."

Coach nodded and let me outside for some fresh air. My mind was boggled. So many crazy things had happened recently. My dad died, I got a new parent, I learned that my dad hid a secret, and now this. Now I am like superman with extreme superstrength. It seemed pretty cool but it was spooky. How did it happen? Did I get exposed to radiation when I was in Odies laboratory or something? At that point in my life, everything was a mystery.

**I hope that this story is at a decent enough pace for everyone. I can guarantee that things are going to heat up in this story I can assure you all of that.**

**So please review, and- well there isn't a rating system on this site. Should there be?**


	4. The Party

**You guys are lucky today. **

**DOUBLE DOSAGE! :D**

**I have the plot mapped out now so lets get serious...**

The bike ride home felt a lot slower than the journey to the school. It may have been because I was tired or the fact that my life wasn't making any sense whatsoever. Too much was happening too quickly for me to understand. It was all like girls; complicated, unrecognisable and maybe even dangerous. I finally reached the mansion and as I walked through the doors, I yelled.

"Odie I'm back!"

It started off silent, then I heard a muffled voice behind the office doors. It said "I'm in here."

I walked in, still with my backpack and helmet on. I saw Odie sitting at his desk. He looked grim.

"I just got a call from the police. I'm afraid they have found no trace of your father. They have called the search off and he is presumed dead."

I felt a tear run down my sweaty cheek. My dad seemed dead to me when he got sick. He never was the same. He was grumpier and more cranky. He was usually calm and relaxed when I was around. He died in my mind a long time ago. But it didn't stop me from crying. I leant into Odie's shoulder. He had been good to me since I was there, and he made a good parent. He would never replace dad, but having someone's shoulder to cry on gave me comfort. Even if it wasn't my dad.

"Look, there is going to be a funeral in two days for him. I'm hoping you will say a few words." I nod as I go to my room. This was a horrible start to the weekend. I cried into my pillow. I don't usually cry this much, but its hard to lose someone so close to you. Especially when they were the only family you had left. I stared at the ceiling for an hour. Motionless and thoughtless. I missed my dad so much. Why did he have to die?

I asked myself that question everyday since that fateful morning. It didn't help. It made things worse, but still, I asked myself. Again and again like repetitively slitting my wrists.

After an hour of crying and silence, I trodded myself downstairs. I heard loud squealing and smooching sounds.

Odies fiance.

Sure enough, they were making out in the kitchen and hadn't noticed me when I stood at the doorway. Odie was the first to notice me.

"Oh hey Herry." he said bashfully. "This is my Fiance, Mediellia. Mediellia, this is Herry. His father passed away a few days ago and- well, I'm his new guardian."

The woman stopped pinning Odie to the ground to look at me. Her eyes were sharp and they still pierce my thoughts today. Her hair was bleach blond but she looked Odies age. She looked at me from head to toe in a spooky manner.

She said three words. 'This is... ...surprising." Her eyes seemed so cold and it scared me. I'm not sure if it was because she didn't like kids or something. Either way, something seemed uncomfortable about her. Especially around me.

Odie watched this whole time. all of a sudden, his eyes filled with worry and realization of something and broke the silence.

"Herry will be coming with us to the brooks tonight." he gave me a wink. Medellia realized that she was staring me down. She looked away.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened there." She blushed. Her eyes had lost their sharpness, but were still the cold blue colour. I decided it be best not to bother her too much while I lived here.

As she left I asked Odie, "Who are the Brooks?"

He chuckled. "More old highsschool friends. Its a bit of a small reunion. Another friend is in town at the moment so we agreed to meet up. I know they will all love to meet you."This was nice and all, but now was time for me to do what I actually came downstairs for.

"Look Odie, something weird happened at rugby practice today;" I told him all about the sudden super strength and how I nearly killed my buddy Fred. You could see Odies facial expressions go from relaxed, to surprised, to concerned.

"So what do you think happened?" I asked after telling the story. He seemed to be thinking.

"Well, I don't know. But did you say super strength?" he asked curiously. I nodded. he thought more and then said.

"As far as I know, super strength is only in the movies and myths." He wasn't looking directly at me and seemed uneasy. He seemed to be hiding something. But he was a genius.

"Now, go have a shower and dress nicely please. We have a party to attend!

I was dressed in jeans and a nice shirt. Polite and relaxed. Just my style. I didn't seem underdressed or overdressed which was good because Medelias sharpness in her eyes was back. It seemed like it came and went like she was some kind of gollum. We all stepped into Odies Ferrari and took off towards a town slightly further out of Toronto. We arrived at the house. It was a smaller, older house with a large lawn littered with skateboards, basketballs, bikes, the sorts.

Odie rang the doorbell, waited five seconds for it to open, and once it was open, a redhaired woman shot out and hugged Odie.

"ODIE! How are you I haven't seen you in ages! The woman seemed a little younger than Odie, and extremely fit. Her hair was red in a ponytail.

Odie smiled, 'Its good to see you Atlanta. How are things here in Stoufville?"

All of a sudden, a young boy at around 12, charged out of the house with what appeared to be an identical twin. She yelled at them.

"Hey Conor! Brian! Clean up the mess you made on the lawn. You two are as bad as your father. I noticed that the twins' hair was a remarkable maroon colour. They moaned and started putting their stuff away. Atlanta looked at me.

"Ah you must be Herry. I heard about your dad. I'm really sorry." She looked sincerely at me for a second then looked up brightly and welcomed us into the house.

The house was rather cosy. It had a kitchen to the left where all the adults were chatting away. Odie led me in. I saw two other men talking to one another in the kitchen. One had remarkable purple hair and decent physique. The other- well I was in denial. It was Neil Brandemburg, a world famous actor who starred in Avatar 2 and Hangover 3 as well as playing Cronus in the Percy Jackson series. The man was known to be in the right place at the right time for things. And he was right in front of me.

"There he is!" exclaimed the purple haired man. He lent out his hand. I shook it obviously.

'I'm Archie Brook and this is-"

"Neil Brandemburg." I finished. "I love all of your movies. Your an amazing actor."

Neil smiled, "Nothing to it." he shook my hand as well. Archie went into the fridge and offered me a beer. I gladly accepted. I'm not a heavy drinker even today, but I enjoy a beer.

Atlanta came up behind me. "The other kids are downstairs in the basement if you want to meet them honey." She was a very nice lady. Very motherly. I wish I still had my mother around to look after me. She was not much more than a memory at this point.

Anyways, I headed downstairs to check out the basement. It wasn't exactly Odies mansion but it was nice. There were four kids. The twins; Conor and Brian, who I had already become aquaintances with. There was another boy. A little older than the twins. He was wearing a snapback and a hoodie. His purplish hair made it work quite well surprisingly. Then there was a girl. the oldest obviously, yelling at the twins.

"Will you tweebs stop wrestling? We have a guest." She was the first to get off the couch to introduce my school, the only girls that were good looking, were hoes and slept with anyone. Now this girl was HAWT. She had long, red hair, which was fairly straight. Her eyes were brown like chocolate and well, her body was nice but I don't think that you really care about how big her ass is. Irrelevant for now. She was wearing a navy boys sweater with ripped skinny jeans and a plain black toque.. She lent out her hand.

"I'm are you?" she asked. For looking like a tomboy, she didn't seem to be moderately polite.

"I'm Herry." I shook her hand. It was surprisingly firm.

"You mean from Harry Potter?" asked one of the twins. I simply smiled. I had received that mockery enough to put up with it.

"Nope.' I replied. They all seemed like nice people. I didn't feel threatened until the middle kid got up. sure he had a nice hat, but his walk seemed aggressive and hurtful.

"Sup." he mumbled. His I couldn't see his eyes under all the hair, but I was sure he was glaring at me. I could almost sense it.

The rest of them sat down on the couch to watch American Idol. Ashlynn offered me a seat beside her.

My first impression of her was a hoe. I'm not going to lie. Nobody can look that good but have a nice personality. That's just an assumption from personal experience though.

However, that handshake didn't seem to be hoeish at all. It was like no handshake I had ever had from a girl. Some girls try to be frail and helpless. Not her.

"So what do you like to do?" Ashlynn asked.

"I like to play bass and rugby." I said. She seemed surprised.

'Really? I play guitar! We should jam sometime. what music do you like?" she asked. Was she flirting? I assumed she wasn't.

"I like everything."

"No seriously, what bands do you like?"

I listed a few new bands as well as some classics like RHCP and Killers.

"Yeah, I like some of those bands. I love Green day though. Bloody classics." I agreed. Ashlynn seemed really nice. I hoped that I would get to know her better, but knowing me, I fall for girls way out of my league. I didn't want to make the same mistake again. All of a sudden, Ashlynns mom called for us.

"Dinner's ready!"

**This is a bit of a longer chapter but I hope you enjoy it.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


	5. The Dream

**Reviews are slowing down.. :(**

**I do like to know what you guys think of my stories but if you don't fell like reviewing, thats cool.**

I'm a pretty adventurous guy when it comes to food. I enjoy all sorts of curries and exotic fruits.

But pizza was always my favourite food. When ever I was out with my friends, we would get pizza. It was a food that went with anything. We simply grabbed a few slices and went back downstairs. When I looked into the kitchen, the adults were having what seemed like a serious conversation. They stopped and smiled when they saw me and I moved on.

When we were all back downstairs, American Idol ended and it switched to the news. An attractive young woman started speaking

"Protests in New Olympia against the anonymity of the now so called, Heroes of New Olympia. We have Rob on the scene live."

The camera switched to a gathering of people who were protesting on the streets.

"The government should reveal and arrest these "Heroes"." bellowed a middle aged man who was rather overweight. "Ever since that fight in the streets, gangs and poverty have thrived here. We want justice brought back to our city and have those responsible for this disaster to be punished." The interviewer took the microphone and talked to the cameraman.

"The government has refused to release the names and identities of the Heroes, however, as the protests and riots continue, it is possible that the authorities may give in."

The news started rambling on about something else at that point.

"Bloody bastards." Ashlynn muttered. "I learned about that in history class. They're lucky they still HAVE a city."

She was right. Those Heroes saved the city from an alien invasion and they were repaying them with hatred. It frustrated me that people could be so ignorant. We flipped the channel to some Family Guy. It was an old show. Really old but it was very funny.

"So what school do you guys go to?" I asked.

"Stoufville High." Ashlynn replied.

"I hear they have a tough rugby team."

"Yeah." The middle boy said something at last. "They do."

"So what your name?" I asked.

"Ryan." He spoke in a very dull, monotone voice. His glare had not left my mind.

"Don't worry about Ryan. He's always like that now."

I chuckled. I lent out my hand. He glanced at it, then back to his pizza.

Ashlynn spoke again. "Hes doesn't like it when I'm around other guys my age. I have a bad history with boys."

"I can relate about bad history. I can barely get a date." I reply. She giggled. It was a mocking giggle but it was kind of cute.

"Well you have it better off then. My last boyfriend threatened to kill me. He almost did if it wasn't for little brother Ryan.."

"That bitch got what he had coming." He cracked his knuckles. He didn't seem like a very aggressive person.

'Nothing personal Ryan, but I can't really see you kicking a highschoolers ass."

He looked at me with a small glare. "You haven't seen me angry."

I didn't dare go further. He seemed demonic. I noticed that the twins were wrestling again.

"Hey Harry Potter, wanna join?" As much as I disliked their sneers, I smiled and replied.

"Um no thanks." I politely replied.

"I'm in!" yelled Ashlynn. "You in Ryan?"

He shrugged, "Whatever." He joined the brawl.

Ashlynn looked at me with convincing eyes. "Come on Herry. Join the fun!"

I didn't want to hurt them because I still had no idea what I was dealing with in the way of super strength. I could easily hurt one of them. That would make a bad first impression. Especially on Ashlynn.

"No I really think thats not a good idea."

"Why not?" I was confusing them. There was no point in verbally explaining why. The only way was to show them.

"THIS is why." I went over to the couch and with one hand, I lifted the massive thing completely off of the ground.

The four of them instantly stopped wrestling and dropped their jaws.

"Cool." said the twins at the same time.

"Dude. You must work out. Like alot." said the monotone Ryan even though his eyes were wide open with surprise.

"I don't know how or why, but suddenly I could do that this afternoon. It was like magic or something."

Ashkynn laughed it off. "Don't be silly there's no such thing as magic."

I put down the couch and we all atarted playing cod. Apparently Ashlynn played video games which I thought was incredibly cool. Unfortunately, time flys when you have fun.

Odie called from upstairs. "Herrry, its time to leave!"

I checked my phone. 1AM. It felt like a few minutes. I got up to leave.

"Herry wait!'' Called Ashlynn she got up too and drew out her cell phone. "Give me your number and we will plan a jam sometime."

We exchanged cell phone numbers. Odie called me again.

"It was nice meeting you." I smiled. and went upstairs.

Medellia drove home. Odie had a few too many to drink and she was tonights designated driver. Time caught up with my body and I started drifting to sleep. When we got back I went straight upstairs to my room/ I overheard an unusual conversation from downstairs.

"There is something not right with that kid. I just feel it." It was medellia's voice.

"What do you mean?" Asked Odie.

'Well, he seems like a nice boy, but every time I see him, I feel uneasy. It feels me feel like that I should, well, not like him."

"Are you sure it isn't you?"

There was a silence.

''It might be but I am telling you this right here. I don't like Herry and I don't know why, but i just do.."

That was all I heard as I drifted into a deep sleep. It had been a long day and I was tired. I entitled myself to a comfortable night of sleep.

I was in the middle of a city street. The rain was pouring down like no tomorrow. It was night but the city lights were not on. I could only see a few feet ahead of me. The fog and the thick blanket of rain clouded my vision.

I stepped forward and my foot landed in something sticky.

Blood. A bolt of lightning struck close by and I saw what lied in front of me. I wanted to throw up.

Bodies. Everywhere. Many where of people not much older than me with axes in their skulls that had blades the size of laptops. It was a sickening sight. There were other bodies all over the ground too. They were of beasts that I had never seen before. There were hag-like women with wings, creatures with bull heads and human torsos. It was like something from a nightmare.

I wandered aimlessly through the body ridden streets. There were thousands of bodies here. One struck out to me. It was a soldier. A big man with a bald head and rough stubble. He had a revolver in one hand and a knife in the other. It was covered with blood. He himself had a spear in him back and his body faced the ground. I used my foot to roll him over. The soldier even had a nametag.

"Sergeant Mack of the 21st battalion." I remembered in my textbook that it stated that the 21st battalion was destroyed in the Battle of New Olympia.

That meant that this- was the battleground of the Great Battle of the 21st Century. I wandered some more and came across massive men, the size of elephants.

Their skin colours varied from human to green. They creeped me out. I realised that I was the only one wandering the streets. As if everyone had perished in the fight.

The rain did not diminish, but through the foggy landscape, I caught something with my eyes. Something had moved. I walked over to investigate. It was a body which seemingly had fallen from they skyscraper above. I looked at the body. It was a man. Dressed in black. He had greying hair with a sharp, thin beard and a goatee. His neck was slit and held a scythe, made from pure gold. I looked up to see where the body had fallen from. My eyes checked from the first floor to the roof. I would never forget what I saw.

A flash of lightning revealed to me a figure standing on the roof, looking down right at me.

It was my dad.

"Herry." I heard a voice in my head. It was my dads voice.

'Wake up."

I woke up in a cold sweat. Sitting rigid on my bed. I checked the clock.

4AM. It was still early.

"What a dream" I whispered to myself. My breathing was heavy and a drop of sweat trickled down my cheek. But I realised that it was no dream.

It was a message.

My dad was still alive. I knew it. He was out there and he was calling for me. How he did that? I didn't know.

**Herry is learning more about his father now. What will happen next? Who knows? Please review it would be much appreciated and I hope you are enjoying the story! :)**


	6. The Book

I woke up again, this time at a more weekend apropriate time.

10AM. Not too late nor too early.

I was still weary from the bizzare dream which I actually thought was more of a message that I had last night. It gave me a feeling that my dad was trying to reach me. A letter or text message would have been more useful though. Why a dream? How was an even better question.

I grabbed some jeans and a hollister shirt, and headed downstairs. I remembered that coversation that I overheard last night. I was starting to really question my existence and how it affected others. I usually felt unimportant and just another kid on the block. But the strength, the conversations behind my back, they all seemed to be connected to me. It was even creepier how it was all happening after my fathers death. I wondered if my fathers death was because of me too. I was ready to accept anything.

As i walked into the kitchen, I was expecting medellia or Odie to be sitting in the conservatory like they usually would.

"Good morning Herry."

A voice greeted me but it was not Odie or Medellia. It was Archie Brook from dinner last night. What was he doing here?

"Um hey Mr Brook. Why are you here-"

"Odie and Medellia had sudden work calls this morning and he wanted me to look after you." He seemed like a nice man, but why would Odie have him babysit a 16 year old? My dad let me stay at home by myself for a night when i was 13.

"Nothing personal, but I am quite capable of looking after myself."

Archie smiled. "I know that, but Odie insisted and besides, I want to meet you. I was a good friend of your dad back in highschool." He stopped that topic when he saw my eyes. He saw that it was one topic that I didn't want to talk about. I don't like it when people go on about it. His death would always make me question the mystery of my life.

"Anyways, it was along time since I saw you. Last time I saw you, you were a few months old. Now you are bigger and as my daughter said, strong too."

I blushed. I am a bit of a blusher. It comes with being an introvert I guess.

"Yeah you made a bit of an impression on my little Ashlynn. Well, I can hardly say she's little anymore. Shes alot like her mother with the independence and individuality." He smiled to himself. "Yeah Ryan is a bit more like me. Hot tempered and rebellious. I don't even know what the twins are. Theyre equally mad. Great at soccer though." He looked up at me. "Well enough about my family. Don't want to bore you."

I was actually really interested about his family. They seemed like a lively household with four adrenaline junkie kids and adrenaline junkie parents.

"Yeah I don't have any siblings. Just two cousins. But theyre way older than me."

He looked at me sincerely, 'You've been through alot. It must be tough without a sibling to talk to."

I smiled. "I've got Odie." Mr Brook laughed.

"Ah Odie. He is a good man and means well, but doesn't have much experience with kids. I think hes a bit too soft."

That was my turn to laugh. "He sure doesn't look soft."

"He used to be. Man, my buddy, Neil and I teased him alot back in highschool. But your dad always supported him. Did he ever tell you about our adventures as teens?"

I shook my head. "No. He didn't talk much about his past. I always felt like he was hiding something from me. Whatever it was, it seemed like it burdened him. I guess he took it to his grave." I held back a tear. There would be time for mourning tomorrow.

Archie nodded in acknowledgment. "He was a born leader." Archie started rummaging through his bag which lay at his feet. He took a book out. He reached it out to me.

"This is a book I wrote. Its on the New York Best Sellers list for teen fiction."

I looked at the title. "Class of the Titans?" I asked. I was a little confused on why he gave me the book. I had heard of the book. My buddy Sean had read it and said that it was great. The book was large. At least 900 pages.

"I based one of the main characters off of your dad. It is about a group of seven teenage heroes who save the world from monsters of greek mythology. There are actually several volumes but theyre all in that one book"

It seemed interesting enough. My dad had told me most of the stories of greek mythology already. I decided to start it later.

"Maybe it will fill in a few gaps in your knowledge." He smiled. "I sent a request to the mental institution to see if your mother could be allowed to attend the funeral. I haven't got a reply yet." His eyes looked down. "Your mother was an interesting girl. Complete Drama Queen of course, but she was a good friend. She was strong willed and aware of her surroundings. We all miss her. The only reason she was stuck in there is because she read the mayors mind and alerted the media to his plans to destroy the conservation area. The man got so scared he acused her of being mentaly unstable. And so they locked her up."

"Wait, hang on a minute. My mom actually COULD read minds?"

Mr Brook paused for a moment. "I said too much. Nobody's sure. Sorry if I raised your hopes son, but I doubt the prison will release your mother." He stood up from the kitchen table.

"Keep the book. It's yours." He sounded grim and depressed at that point.

As he walked out, Medellia walked in. She kindly thanked Archie for the babysit as he left through the doors with his head held down. Medellia walked into the kitchen. Here eyes wern't freakishly sharp at the moment. That was always a good sign.

"Hey there Herry. How was your sleep?" She sounded so motherly. It kind of scared me. She didn't sound like herself. She sounded interested and concerned over me. Then again, maybe the other Medellia I knew before was the unusual one.

"Uh, good." I was lying through my teeth but she didn't notice.

"Oh Mr Brook gave you a copy of his book. How nice! He based one of the characters off of Odie. Did you know that?" She was talking to me as she unpacked groceries.

"Actually? I didn't know that."

"Yes. Now have worked on your speech for tomorrow?"

I hadn't started. I personally didn't want to write it. I decided that I would make it later and lie.

"I'm still working on it." I decided to spend some time outside and get some fresh air. I went for a run. There were some neat trails near Odies mansion. They were pleasant to jog through.

When I got back, I showered and went to my room. I had left my phone in there that morning so I went to check it. I had a text from Aslynn.

_-Hey :) Wanna jam later on?_

I replied with a another text.

_-Sure! Whereabouts?_

_-How about your house? I want to see this collection you told me about._

_-OK come whenever youre ready i guess_

_-One hour?_

_-See ya then :)_

I told Medellia about the jam. She didn't seem to care. She knew that the music room was soundproof so she let it go ahead.

Sure enough, one hour later, the doorbell rang. I opened it to see a bright red haired girl at the doorstep.

"Hey" she said with a happy smile. She had brought her guitar and everything.

"You didn't really need to bring that." I said. She looked confused.

"Why not"

"You'll see." I led her downstairs to the music room. The second she entered the room, her draw dropped. There were at least 20 guitars for her to choose from, and they were all priceless in value. She grabbed a gibson les paul from the rack and tested it out. I grabbed a thunderbird bass and plugged it in.

"What song do you wanna play?" I asked.

She replied: "I'm feeling some My Chemical Romance. One of the older albums."

She began the opening riff for "NANANA", I joined in and we jammed with the crystal clear sound that our instruments produced.

I'm not a proffesional singer, but I could pull of the singing part for the songs decently. I was no Michael Bolton, but I was good enough to not be completely off key. Ashlynn was pretty good herself as well. Especially as we got into the paramore songs. She actually looked a bit like the singer herself with her straightened hair and yellowcard t shirt. Her voice was nothing compared with her guitar skills. She could pull off just about any riff or solo almost effortlessly. It blew my mind. Even the original lead guitar in my old band wasn't that good.

We played for hours. Before we knew it, our voices were gone and were heads were throbbing from the cranked bass amp. We went upstairs to grab a drink.

"I have never seen someone play the guitar like that." I complimented her. She blushed.

"Well you're a pretty good bass player yourself." We both chugged a glass of water. I hadn't had that much fun since before my dad got sick. My blood was still pumping when Ashlynn got a call that was telling her to come home for dinner.

"Thanks for having me Herry." She said while we waited outside for her ride.

"No problem. Are you going to the funeral tomorrow?" That last sentace came out a bit awkwardly.

She looked down. "I'm afraid not. My parents are going but I have to babysit the tweebs and Ryan." She looked at me glummly.

"Its going to be a pretty depressing day. I'm sure you wont miss anything exciting."

She looked blankly at the wall. "Yeah but my parents always spoke so highly of your dad. He sounds like he was a respectable man. And I know how much it means to you. I guess all I can do is wish you the best."

A minivan came hurtling down the driveway. It was her mother.

"Thanks anyways." She gave me a friendly hug and walked to the car. We waved goodbye as I watched the car disappear behind the hedges.

Ashlynn was like a cancer. She was growing on me. I was glad to have her as a friend. My other friends were not much for support. They were more or less for laughs. But I felt that I could trust her. As new a friend as she was, I could see her as being a best friend.

Or more.

I had suddenly realised that it was getting dark and I had not started on the speech. I ran in, heading to my room. I was not putting up with those sharp eyes again.

**Well, I sure enjoyed writing that. I hope that you enjoyed reading it and that you will review so I can know your opinion.;)**

**As always, have a nice day, or in this case, night. :)**


	7. The Funeral

**HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYBODY :D**

**This story so far has been about herry learning about the mystery of his life. I think it might be time to spice things up. ;)**

**Read, Review, and enjoy the fireworks!**

Odie came home late that night. He went upstairs to the game room to see me standing. Staring into the deep space of the picture on the wall.

"Who is that?" I pointed to the big guy. As far a I knew, I knew everyone in the picture. All except for one. Him. Odie was silent behind me. It was almost like I offended him.

"He was an old friend." He muttered. "He was the strongest of the bunch of us. Not very smart but extremely generous." I looked behind me. Odie seemed very sad.

"Why do you say "was"?" I asked.

"He died a long time ago. The seven of us, we were all a family in that apartment, but he was mt best friend. When the couples went off, him and I did our own things. He loved animals and helping others. Damn it. I miss him." Odie looked like he was holding back a tear. This guy must have been a close friend.

"I'm sorry Odie. I didn't know." I felt guilty that I had made my Guardian cry.

He just looked at me. "Don't sweat it. It was long before you were born." He got up. "His name was Herry. Your parents named you after him." He walked out.

Herry. So this was the man who's name I inherited. It was strange because mt dad always told me that it was the name of a great hero. Was this man that hero? If so, what did he do?

These past few days, I had been looking for answers. All i got were more questions. Questions that made me question the base of my knowledge of my family and its past.

"Herry, come down here." Odies voice called. I snapped back to reality and walked downstairs. Odie was waiting outside the door.

"I have something I would like to give you." He muttered. He walked over to the door and beckoned me to follow him. I did. He led me to the garage and opened one of the many garage doors. I had a gut feeling that this would be good. The only thing he kept in the garage,were cars.

He drove out one of the biggest vehicles I had ever seen. It was a heavy duty pickup truck. It looked dusty and old, but it also looked powerful and it was painted in a golden yellow.

"This used to belong to Herry." Odie said when he stepped out of the car. "When he died, he gave it to me. And now I am giving it to you. Its an old car, but it still drives well and is quite fuel efficient." He handed me the keys. It still had a wireless remote. Most cars in the now had voice activation. The keyring had a glow in the dark minature dinosaur. I looked at Odie. It must have been tough for him to go through with that. Giving away a prized possesion that was given to him by a piece of paper.

"Thank you." I said. I was completely flattered that he was giving me a car. I did have my license but I didn't use it much. Maybe now I could.

"It will have better use with you than it will with me." Odie smiled. Not the cheerful, optimistic smile, his eyes showed saddness and regret.

"Its getting late." He said. "Early rising tomorrow. Get some sleep."

I nodded. He was right. I had to attend my dads funeral the next day. One event that I dreaded. I missed my dad. I didn't want to talk, listen or think about it.

* * *

><p>So much for a good nights sleep. I lay in my bed wide awake for most of the night, scared of another nightmare like the one from last night. As nervous as I was, I did eventually drift into a dream.<p>

I was expecting some kind of message from my dad again. It seemed different this time. I was on no street nor swimming in bodies. I was in a room. There were no lights on, but I knew it was a room. There was an echo. And I heard-

crying. It was a female cry of despair. I saw one light that was on. Underneath, there was a woman. She had long orange hair and pale skin. Her face was embedded in her knees as she sobbed away. She seemed unaware of my presence as I walked around her. She was frail and weak, like she hadn't eaten in weeks. I felt bad for her even though i didn't know what was wrong.

There was nowhere else for me to go, so I sat opposite from her as she continued to ignore my presence. Eventually, the crying stopped and slowly, her eyes looked up, facing mine. They were green like sea pearls. Like mine.

_Herry_. I heard a voice inside my head. It was the woman who I realised,was my mother.

I woke up again in a cold sweat. Sitting rigid in my bed. This dream was unlike a dream that I experienced before. I could do more than see and hear. I felt a sense that I never felt before. I could sense my surroundings like sonar underwater. It was bizzare. But I didn't think that was a dream. It was another message, but this time from my mother. Both my parents had tried to reach me through my dreams. I felt like they were warning me about something. It must have been serious.

* * *

><p>I didn't bother going back to sleep. It was 7:15AM and the sun was up. I had breakfast as the my guardians came downstairs.<p>

"My goodness Herry, youre up early." Medellia announced.

"Couldn't sleep." I mumbled. She ignored that and babbled "Do you have your speech ready?"

"Yup." I had finished it before Odie got home last night. Medellia simply smiled at me and started cooking pancakes. That look in her eyes was back. I was used to them at that point but I had a feeling they were connected to her negative feelings towards me that I over hear in that conversation.

The morning went as planned. I showered, got dressed in my suit and dragged myself into the car.

The funeral was being held at the cemetery. There was a priest from the local church, even though my dad never went to church, and there was a coffin but no body inside.

In time more people gathered. There was Neil, the Brooks, my dads cousins and many others. My mother, no surprise, was not allowed out of the institution.

We all sat around the burial site. It was under a yew tree which sheilded us from the warming sun. Before I knew it, it was time for my speech. I went in front of the coffin and breathed in. I wanted to cry, but this was one minute that I needed to hold it back. I held my head high and spoke out.

"I had a great dad. He raised me by himself since my mothers "inprisonment". It feels like forever since I last saw him, but I do know that he would be happy to see you all here. He spoke highly of all of you to me and-"

_Herry._

A voice talked to me in my thoughts and made me pause for a moment. I realised that everyone was watching me. So I continued.

"And he made me want to meet many of you."

_Herry._

The voice came back. It gave me a headache.

"Please excuse me for a second." I quickly stepped down from the podium and ran behind the tree, embarrased. But this voice was trying to reach me and it was giving me a huge headache.

_Herry, listen. You are in great danger._

The voice was clearer now. It was my dads. He WAS trying to warn me of something. But what?

_You must get out of there before its too late._

I had no clue what he was talking about. I set those thoughts to the back of my head and walked back to the microphone, blushing.

"Sorry about-"

My word were interupted by a crashing noise behind me. I looked up to see people panicking and running. I looked back to see a huge blue man with a toga aiming its foot at me.

_Herry. Run._

I listened to my dads voice and booked it.

"HERRY!" Odies voice beckoned me to his car. The giant man was following me and tried to swing at me. I dodged it by rolling to the side, narrowly missing a gravestone with my head. The blue guy seemed angry and leapt at me again but was suddenly stopped by something at its wrist. It looked like metal rope, but on closer inspection, it looked like a metal grappling hook. And it was coming from some sort of handle thing from Mr Brook.

"Herry, get out of here!" He yelled struggling to hold the thing back. I ran to the car. People were running everywhere but I reached the car door.

"JUMP IN." Yelled Medellia who looked frightened out of her mind. I looked back. Mr Brook was struggling to hold the giant back. The thing smacked him into the tree with one swift slap to the body. Mr Brook was risking his life for me.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Yelled Medellia even louder.

I looked at the car, then to Mr Brook.

Balls to it.

I clenched my fist and ran away from the car and towards the big blue thing. Mr Brooks face was bloody and in shock. I took my rugby stance.

Get low.

Straight back.

Charge.

The big giant never saw it coming. From his side, I hit him a full force makking us tumble down the hill, away from Mr Brook. Well actually, thanks to my strength, we got some serious air before I slammed him into the ground. The giant was hurt as I got off of him, but he wasn't defeated. I still today can't beleive what I did. I picked him up by the waist, lifted him, and fired him straight into the church wall. Whatever he was, he looked a bit more defeated at that point.

"Herry!" Mr Brooks voice came from behind me. He was limping with blood on his face. He scared the crap out of me.

"Thank you for saving my life, but you really must get out of here." He panted. I followed his recommendation and ran for the car. The two were shocked.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Medellia screamed, "YOU NEARLY KILLED YOURSELF!"

"Odie," I said ignoring Medellia, "What was that thing?" Odie was silent as he drove full speed out of the cemetery. His expression was emotionless.

"Odie, I know you are hiding something from me. Now tell me what that thing was."

Odie cursed under his breath multiple times. "I-it was a giant."

"Well no shit." I said, frustrated that I might have died five seconds ago.

"Odie was burying his face in his head. "No no no no no. This wasn't how it was meant to happen."

"What wasn't meant to happen?" Both Medellia and I asked at the same time.

"This. My job was to protect you from all this. And I failed." He was on the verge of crying. He muttered damnit several time under his breath.

"Odie, what is going on?" Medellia asked impatiently.

"Look, youre not going to beleive what I am about to tell you." He said.

"The truth is that all those stories about greek mythology and gods are actually real. In highschool. The seven of my friends were prophecised to defeat Cronus, the god of time who escaped from tartarus prison. We succeeded, but not until we lost Herry, and thousands of lives. That battle of New Olympia was not between us and aliens. Those Aliens were greek mythological monsters like that one back there. When the war ended, we settled down and tried to raise our kids away from all that so they could be safe. And I failed. I failed you, I failed your dad, I failed the world."

We finally got back to the mansion. There was a storm brewing and it was windy. A depressed Odie wandered into the mansion.

"So if you fought Cronus in the battle of New Olympia, then YOURE one of the Heroes of New Olympia that the people are ripping on." He nodded sadly. I felt partially responsible for his distress. I felt like this whole disaster was my fault.

"I'm sorry Odie. I feel horrible for what I have brought into your life. Again." He stared at me warmly for a moment and smiled.

"You didn't choose this life. Neither did I, but here we are. You have the blood of two Heroes of New Olympia The anchestor of Jason and Theseus. You have the blood of both your parents. You are, like me, a hero." he looked up to me and Medellia.

"This place is no longer safe. They found us in the cemetery, they can find us here. We leave tomorrow. Get your things ready."

**That was a long to write. i hope you enjoyed. I couldnt be bothered to spellcheck and read over everything so apologies for that. :)**

**HAPPY CANADA DAY**


	8. The Great Escape

**Hey guys :)**

**I have noticed that I have constantly bothering you about reviewing,but i noticed there is nothing much to review other than slight progression in the plot. So, I had an idea. I will ask a question about the story and you guys answer! :D I am not forcing any of you to so don't worry if you don't feel like answering. The answer will be at the end of this chapter.**

So much had happened in the past few days, I was still trying to decipher what was going on. As far as I could tell,m a supergenius had just told me that those silly stories about greek gods and titans were real. When you say it like that, it just seems wrong. But then again, it all made sense. The giants, the dreams, alot of things. But my first question still remained.

What Happened to my dad?

I had finished packing my bags for tomorrow. It was a scary though; running away to keep me safe. Odie seemed to like the idea, but when he told Medellia and I, he had doubt i his eyes. Odie was a good man and cared for me. I trusted him but I had a gut feeling that this wasn't right. I noticed that the giant in the cemetery seemed to be most interested in me and nobody else. I had a feeling that I was the target of something, or someone.

It was late, but I felt restless. Both Odie and Medellia were sleeping in the master bedroom on the third floor. I paced my room thinking about what I could do.

I heard something hit my window. I stopped pacing.

I heard it again, it sounded like a tennisball. I rushed over to my window to investigate. I soon learned what the noise was.

Ashlynn. She was on the front lawn. She smiled weakly at me and mouthed the words.

"Open the door."

she obviously didn't want to alert anyone, so I snuck downstairs and opened the main door. She strode in with a hikers backpack and several other things.

"Get your things were leaving." She half whispered half talked.

"What? Why are you here? I'm leaving with Odie tomorrow." I replied in an equally discrete voice.

"Look, I heard about what happened in the cemetery. You saved my dads life, but when I was babysitting..." She paused for a moment, looking behind her.

"What? What happened?"

She looked anxious. "I was atteacked by a woman. Except she had wings and a tail. She pinned me to the ground. She started asking me questions, about you."

"Me? Why was she asking questions about me?" I asked hastily.

Ashlynn looked scared. "I don't know, but my parents arrived in time. My mom shot it with an arrow and the thing disappeared into thin air." She gulped. "Look, whatever these things are, theyre after you. And they knew I had a connection to you."

This was a wierding me out. How did these things know about me and how did they know that I knew Ashlynn?

"My dad told me what happened at the cemetery. You were very brave, but as long as we stay here, we endanger everyone around us, including our families."

She had a point there. Odie was a good man and as willing as he was, I didn't want him to die for me.

"But why are you coming with me? Your parents are great fighters."

She shook her head. "Not as good as they once were. My mom was complaining about her aim after the hag lady and my dad told me he stuggled with the giant. He also told me that when he was younger he would have torn the giant up no problem. They also told me that greek-"

"Myths are real." I said grimly. "Odie told me that too and as crazy as it sounds, I believe him." I looked at her. She was distraught and scared. Just like me. But like Odie said earlier. "Neither of us chose our lives, yet here we are." I looked at my choices, I would probably have better chances of survival if I stayed with Odie, but the consequences would be dire to people around me, especially close ones. If I went with her, we would be isolated from our friends and family, they would be safe. But if we got caught with another monster, we were on our own. I looked upstairs, Odie and Medellia were sound asleep, I decided then. Nobody will die because of me.

"Ok, I will come with you. Let me get my stuff." She smiled. And we both snuck upstairs to my room. I took all my clothes out of the suitcase and packed my clothes, some camping gear, my wallet(which had the fortune), and my car keys.

"Cute dinosaur." Ashlynn commented. It was kinda wierd having a girl in my bedroom, well, it wasn't like a bad thing, but situations had me scared at the time.

I had clothes, money, sleeping bags, keys, everything. It was time to go. As we quietly walked out the door, I remembered something.

"Wait a sec." I took out a piece of paper and started writing.

"What are you doing?" She asked imaptiently.

"I'm writing a note to Odie." I said. "He deserves to know that I am gone. I'll make it quick." Ashlynn gave me an impatient look.

I finished the note in rough handwriting and set it on my bed. Now we were ready to go.

We rushed downstairs to the hallway and who was there?

"Where are you two going?" It was Medellia. She in her nightgown. Her eyes were sharper than ever. No they weren't just sharp, they were GLOWING.

I realised it, this wasn't Medellia . It was some inner being of her. Like a spirit.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Wheres Medellia?"

The woman sneered. "She's fine, sleeping in her bed. More peaceful than ever."

The thing that startled me the most was that she was wearing an unusual medallion.

"I am Medea. I have an old relationship with your anchestor" She looked angry as her eyes glowed even more and her hands were glowing too almost like Shego.

Now was time to run. We both booked it towards the door, but Medea was fast. She blocked our path.

"Youre not going anywhere, son of Jay."

Did she really call me that? I was surprised because she made it sound like I was some heir to a kings throne.

"Oh yes I am." I charged her through the door. Actually I brought the door down with us with a loud BANG. I gave Medea a hook to the noggin and she was down for a few seconds.

"Herry COME ON" Yelled Ashlynn, who was trying to open the locked car door. I unlocked it and tossed my stuff in the back seat. Ashlynn did the same. I turned on the engine with one turn of the key and we skidded out onto the road. Medea seemed to vanish into thin air once we were out of the gateway. In my side view mirror, I saw Odies bedroom light turn on.

I knew how hearbroken he would be when he saw the note. I remembered what I wrote by heart.

_To Odie, _

_If your are reading this, I am gone. I have left with Ashlynn and have taken the truck. Please don't follow me. I am doing this so that you, and everyone close to me is safe. The monsters are after me, not you. I would tell you where I am going, but I know you will try to find me. I am sorry, but I also thank you for everything you have done for me. Do not be ashamed. Youre are not, and never were, a failure._

_-Herry_

It was hard to write, because I knew how much I meant to him. He was one of the greatest guardians one could ask for. And I abandoned him. I abandoned my friends and my old life. Me and Ashlynn were beyond the point of no return. All the paths from this point on would be one-way.

"So how did you get out?" I asked Ashlynn. Right at that point, our only goal was to get out of the city.

"My parents wanted me to stay so they could protect me, but I saw they were not as strong as they used to be. It was too dangerous for me to stay there. The monsters knew I was connected to you, and that put all my family in danger, so once it got dark, I grabbed my things and left." She sighed. "I hope theyre alright."

'They will be." I assured her. "They will be. Thanks for coming with me. I should probably have done this on my own."

"And let you have all the fun?" She joked, "We're in this together now."

And so we drove further and further out of town. We didn't know where we were going, but wherever it was, we were taking the dangers with us, that a monster could be lurking behind every corner. What mattered was that the dangers were no longer with our families or friends. That was all that mattered.

**This is the end of Act One of The Only Son.**

**Imma skip tomorrow and let your minds guess what might happen. Act Two will start tuesday.**

**HERE is the review question:**

**WHO in the only son, is your favourite character? It can be one of the characters I made, or from the original series. Just say who and state your opinion. As well as that, review the actual story too! :) I am just curious on your opinions.**

**Have a great day! :)**


	9. Ain't no Rest for the Wicked

**Alright, act 2 is here. I see Ashlynn is a favourite of the audience of three people.**

**I personally like her because she is a badass who you don't wan to screw around with.**

**HoneyG:(Thats what im calling you ;)), i like how your favourite were basically all of the characters.**

**historian: I don't beleive Jay is a character. At least not yet. ;)**

**Kiwi: Ditto.**

**Here is the first chapter of act 2.**

**To represent act two on the chapter table, I will use song lyrics if you guys want to know where the acts start and end. Act one was one noun things.**

We were driving up the highway. It was a cloudy 2AM. The highway was dead empty like a ghost town, only the two of us. I was driving and Ashlynn was in the passenger seat. All of our stuff was in the backseat and the trunk of the big truck. The radio was on pretty loud to keep us awake, not that our adrenaline wasn't doing that for us already.

"So do you have any idea of where we are going?" I asked.

"My mom used to go hunting north alot. She knows a guy up in Haliburton. Maybe he can help us out. He's an old friend of my mom."

We had nowhere else to go, nothing to lose except for our lives, and it seemed like the most availible option.

"You have an address?"

Ashlynn googlemapped it. "49 Jungle street."

Funny street name for somewhere up north.

"Ok that sounds ok. Is that a phone?" I asked.

"Yeah why?" I took it from her hands and threw it out the window. She slapped me.

"What was that for!" she was seriously pissed off.

"Now that we've run off, the police and people are going to try and look for us. They can track our phones."

She wanted to say something, but realised that I was right. She took out her ipod and plugged the earphones and gave me a glare.

"Turn off the wifi." I warned her.

"Done." Now Ashlynn had a grudge against me. I rubbed the cheek that Ashlynn slapped. It burned a bit still and there was an imprint of a hand on my face. I ignored it and drove on.

Haliburton is a small town about 3 hours away from Toronto. With all the coffee stops, it took us 4. The sun was beginning to rise as we quietly drove into the seemingly deserted town. The town was in a valley, well being Ontario it was not a very steep valley. More like a few lumps of dirt considered hills. There was a freshwater lake which was surrounded by trees and cottage country. Algonquin park was only an hour away so it was ideal for any camper. The sun rose further as we slowly tried to find the street. When we found it, it was 7AM and the sun had fully emerged from the horizon. It was a country road a few minutes from the main town. It was connected to a small lake, ideal for fishing. However, the house was the only one around the lake.

The house itself was more of a small log cabin. It had one door and a few tiny, foggy windows. Mist was coming off of the lake for it was still early morning. Ashlynn and I barely talked after the phone incident. Before we knocked on the wooden door, Ashlynn tapped my shoulder.

"Sorry I slapped you earlier." The pain and the redness were gone, but both was easily recalled.

"Sorry I didn't give you the honour of throwing your phone." I smiled. after driving for four hours relying on iced caps and coffee for several hours, I was conked. Finally, we got round to knock on the door. We waited a few seconds, then the door opened to a man. A young man. He wore dreads and a large beanie. He was wearing a muscle shirt and baggy jeans. He was also wearing hiking boots. He looked rather rough, but if he was a highschool friend of Ashlynn's mum, god he looked young.

"Um, are you Phil?" Ashlynn asked politely.

The man looked at her curiously. "Atlanta is that you?"

Ashlynn blushed when she realised he was checking her out. "Umm no, I am her daughter. Can we talk to you for a bit?"

Phil just smiled. "Come on in."

The lodge was only one room. It had a few chairs, a worn out couch, a small kitchen, a rug, and that was about it. Phil jumped back onto his couch. "So what are two kids like you doing all the way out here?"

* * *

><p>We told Phil just about everything. It was a risky gamble but we guessed he may have some answers. He did know a hero of New Olympia after all. Phil laid back in his worn down couch eyeing us both as we told the story. Especially Ashlynn.<p>

"Please beleive us, we're not crazy." I said after finishing the whole story. He eyed me curiously.

"I beleive you man, you kids don't seem to be lying, and also because of these. He tossed off his shoes to reveal hooves.

HOOVES. The man was half goat or something. He took off his beanie to reveal two horns which made my heart skip a beat. I was terrified. We both thought he was going to try and kill us like everything else that was related to Greek Mythology did. As we both stood rigid in our chairs, he reached out his hand, beckoning us to shake it.

"The real names Pan. God of the forest and panick."

We didn't move a muscle. He sighed.

"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt ya."

I slowly got up and wearily shook his hand. I was still alive. I started breathing again. I sat back down, looking a little less petrified and a little more like Herry. Phil- I mean Pan was still eyeing Ashlynn.

"Dude I can't get over how much you look like your mum. It felt like yesterday when she was your age. I guess when you are a god, you forget that people close to you still age."

I was thinking at that point. So apparently Atlanta, Ashlynns mum was a friend of the god of the forest. I was pretty wierded out.

"So you and my mum were friends?" Ashlynn asked.

Pan smirked. "We had a bit of a fling." He winked. "Then she realized that I was hypnotized by Cronus and I almost killed her. Good times." Pan moved his head to me.

"It sounds like you kids are in a bit of a mess at the moment. You say you were attacked by one Harpy?"

Ashlynn nodded. "Yes."

"Funny. Harpies like to travel in packs of two or three these days, and giants, theyre pretty big but not very smart. Such an attack would need them to have some sort of leadership."

I gulped. "How powerful would you need to be to boss around one of those things?"

"Very." Pans face was serious. "Some one or something is after you two. I can assure you now that it is not the Olympian gods. They hate giants and the only thing they use harpies for is target practice. Besides, if you pissed one of them off, they would just attack you with their element. Not beasts."

"Do you know if there is anything going on up in Olympus?" Asked Ashlynn. PAn just shrugged.

"I haven't been there since the war. I don't keep in touch with them much. I prefer it here."

He stopped to let us ponder a bit. He took some thing from his pocket. A joint. He lit it up and offered us a hit. I took one out of politeness. We needed sleep and the last thing we needed was both of us tripping out. I wasn't like I hadn't smoked dope before. I did it on occasion with friends.

"Just warning you man, that stuff is strong." Pan warned me AFTER I exhaled. I coughed a little and then I passed it over to Ashlynn. She took a little more than me. Actually a good bit more. Then she passed it back to Pan.

"Look, I'm not one for visitors," he took a hit. "But because of your situation and the fact that you know Atlanta, you can stay here. I don't want your monster buddies after me so I want you kids gone by tomorrow morning. Understand?" We nodded. That stuff was pretty strong. I felt relaxed already. Ashlynn was smiling crookedly. Pan stood up and walked back to the door as he put his shoes back on. "You kids should rest up. I'll be back tomorrow morning, if youre still here, I kick you out." He walked out gently closing the door.

We didn't hesitate going to sleep. Ashlynn was red eyed and laughing pointlessly but she drifted off pretty quickly. I wondered if she was getting any messages in her dreams. I din't think long before I was asleep too.

* * *

><p>The past few dreams, I was unaware and scared. This time I was ready for what was coming and had some questions that I wanted answered on the tip of my tongue.<p>

Here it goes I told my self.

I was in a street again, but this time it was day and the streets were bustling as normal. The clear blue water and the lukewarm sun signified that this was New Olympia. My goal here was simple; Find one of my parents.

It was quite easy actually. My dad was in a red truck with five other teenagers. I realized that they were all from the picture. There was my dad, my mum, Ashlynns parents, Odie, and the big guy who I was named after, Herry.

I jumped right into the car and started questioning away.

"Dad what is happening to me?"

No answer. He kept walking with his friends.

"Dad?" I asked even louder. No reply or eye contact.

"DAD!" I yelled that one. I noticed that despite my yelling, nobody turned to notice me. It was like I was a ghost.

Knowing better than to lose my head and voice by yelling, I decided to follow my dad and see what would happen.

The six of them stopped walking at a magasine stall. The vendor was an old, dreary man with a bald head and hippie sunglasses.

"There he is." I heard my dad say. "Thats the oracle."

The man looked up to them. "Ah, I knew sooner or later you would come to see me." The man had an aged and course voice. I was wondering why my dad called him the oracle.

"Thats an encouraging sign for an oracle." My dad commented. "Listen could you tell us where to find Neil?"

The old man looked over towards a bus. I soon noticed I was in the path of the bus. Being a ghost, I stayed put and sure enough, I flew right through the bus. Didn't feel it at all.

The others continued to stare at the bus. When Herry finally replied: "Thats Neil? He's a model?"

Mr Brook commented "Hey maybe hes a SUPER model." The others laughed and mocked the idea of a super model powers. I laughed at a few of them like the "Killer Smile" which came from an actually good looking girl who looked remarkably like Ashlynn, with significant stlye differences though. I noticed that it was here mom.

The old man interrupted the laughter. "So do you have any difficult questions that you might actually need an oracle for?"

My mother stepped up. "Yes. Where is Neil?" The old man grabbed her hand and puller her close to his wise looking face. He raised his sunglasses to reveal freaky glowing eyes. The words he spoke echoes through my head too.

"You don't need me to find him. The ability is within you." The words were as strong in my head as they were if I was face to face with him like my mother was. All of a sudden, everything paused in black and white. All except for me, and my dad. His voice was the one now that echoed through my head.

"Find this man. He has the answers you desire."

I woke up, not rigid upright or in a cold sweat, but my eyes were wide open like I had not even fallen asleep. Maybe it was the weed. I got out of my sleeping position in my sleeping bag on the floor to see Ashlynn looking at me. Her eyes were no longer red but her earphones were in as she sat on the couch. I shook the sleep out of my head and looked out the window. It was nighttime. I had slept for over 12 hours.

"Had a nice sleep?" She asked. I stood up and looked at her firmly.

"Ashlynn, I know where we need to go."

**End of a longer chapter. Here is the next question for the reviews!**

**Who do YOU think is behind the attacks? I want to see if anyone gets it. :)**


	10. Everyday I'm Shufflin'

**Thanks for the awesome reviews guys! :)**

**HoneyG: Are you hitting on me?**

**Let me remind you all that Cronus is not only defeated, he is DEAD.**

**None of you have got the right answer, and I'm still not sure to be honest who it is either. :/**

**For a heads up, in my mind New Olympia is where Vancouver would be.**

"Are you mad?" Ashlynn stared at me as I told her about my dream.

"Nope, we have to go to New Olympia and find this guy called The Oracle." I reminded her.

"So you are going to because your subconscious is telling you to?"

"No, because my dad is telling me to." She turned her head sideways. Confused. I sighed.

"Look, I don't know how or why, but I feel that my dad is trying to talk to me in my dreams. It has happened many times, he also reached me in the cemetery. He WARNED me to get out of there. He is trying to help us Ashlynn."

She stared at me for a minute. "You are the strangest guy I have ever met, but I like you." Our eye contact disconnected and she walked towards the fridge.

"So are you with me on this?" I asked. She took out a jar or pickles.

"I don't know. New Olympia is on the far side of the country, we can't take a plane because if we were risking others at home, imagine how many we would risk at an airport. That means we would have to drive and its a long way. The other thing is, almost all of the people want our parents' heads on plates. It will be dangerous for us there."

"Its dangerous for us everywhere now. At least if we go there, we can get ourselves answers." I replied. Ashlynn was not very persuasive. "Where else will we go?"

She relaxed her shoulders after trying to open the jar of pickles. With no luck, she handed it to me, figuring that my super strength would solve the problem. I opened it no problem. She smirked. I handed her back the jar.

"You know what, youre right. I can't think of any better plan. Might as well follow your fantasy idea on this." She looked outside from her chair. "We should start going once sun rises. It will be a long drive."

"It will be at least a week or two before we get there. we should get a little more rest."

"Ditto." She said. Ashlynn rose up from her chair and lay on her sleeping bag. She smiled at me. "That chair of yours looks rather uncomfortable. Come lie here with me."

I smiled back and rose out of my chair. I went over to the kitchen and grabbed some potato chips. I placed the bag down between us. as I sat ontop the soft tissue of the mattress, my butt landed on something hard. I lifted the foam mattress to see the book that Ashlynn's dad had given me.

"No way, you brought that with you?" She joked.

"I didn't recall packing it. I guess I must have brought it here my accident." I blushed. She was probably wondering why I was reading her dads book. Even though I never started.

"Well, we have plenty of free time, why don't you read it?" Ashlynn suggested. She was right. We were going to have a lot of empty time on ur hands when we wern't driving or fighting for our lives. I shrugged, grabbed a handful of chips, lay down into a comfortable position on my side towards Ashlynn, and opened the first page.

"Have you read it?" I asked her.

"Not by myself, but my dad used to read me bits and pieces when I was little. It was when he was still writing it and he wanted my opinion. Being the little girl I was, I told him they were all great."

I laughed and she smiled meekly. I turned to the fist volume of the series.

_Chaos 101._

I read the first few chapters before I started to feel sleepy. I bookmarked and dozed off, facing the dark, wooden ceiling.

* * *

><p>It was the first dreamless night in days. It was partially because I had one around 20 minutes beforehand and the fact that neither of us slept for long. We soon woke to a peeking sun which glowed over the horizon. We both quickly got our things repacked and ready to leave. At exactly 7AM, Pan showed up.<p>

"You kids know where you're going?" He asked kindly.

"New Olympia." Ashlynn warmly replied. Pan chuckled.

"Thats a long way. Come in for a sec, I have some things I want to give ya."

"Great, more heirlooms." I whispered sarcastically to Ashlynn. She laughed as we entered the log cabin one more time. Pan was searching through a chest beside the couch. He took out a dusty old book and a necklace.

"Herry, this is for you." He handed me the book. "It might help you out on your travels." I looked at the title.

"Greek encyclopedia to monsters, beasts, and other beings." I read aloud. I realized that this could help us out if we came across a certain creature that was trying to kill us.

"Thanks." I said as I shoved it into my rucksack. Pan then looked seductively at Ashlynn, who looked at little surprised by the sly smile.

"Your mother left this behind the last time she came hunting. She seemed to have left it behind on purpose. I don't know why, but I am sure that it will have more use with you.: Ashlynn looked at it. It was a pendant on a gold chain with the letter A carved into the back. Ashlynn looked up again to have the god hug her firmly.

"I may be a god, but your mother changed my life forever. If you see her again, tell her that. For me." He let her go gently. He looked to us both now. "You guys better get going. You have a long and dangerous road ahead."

And with that, we waved goodbye to the god and hopped into the truck. He waved as we skidded out of his driveway. We would never see him again.

* * *

><p>We hit the Trans Canada Highway in no time. Such a highway was not busy in the middle of a work day. It extended all the way from the Maritimes to New Olympia. Just where we needed to go. It was the fastest route availible an sure enough, we were flying through. Besides a few pee breaks, coffee breaks and lunch at Wendy's, we spent our time in the car.<p>

Ashlynn was lucky that she couldn't legally drive. I had to stay awake for many hours, focusing on the road.

"So where will we crash tonight?" I asked.

"The nearest town will be Thunder Bay. I'm sure there is some Motel or something we could stay at." She said as she looked out the window. She suddenly had some urge to reach for the back seat.

"What is it?" I asked.

"When you were writing your letter back at the house, I grabbed a guitar from your basement."

"Did you get a bass too?"

"Yup"

"Acoustic?"

"Both." I looked at her.

'Youre the best you know that?" She smiled.

"I know." She started playing relaxed chords. She placed the head so that it wasn't in my face and played all the way to Thunder Bay.

By 5PM we had rented out a one night room at a cheap motel outside of the town of Thunder Bay. As we settled down, I noticed there was only one bed. we both blushed. We had become good friends but we were not comfortable enough to share a bed.

"Flip a coin?" She awkardkly offered.

'I'm calling heads." I said as I flipped a penny out of my pocket.

Tails. Damn, Ashlynn had the bed for the night. As I set up my sleeping bag, she jumped into the soft mattress. She rolled over and looked at me.

"You know, we should go into town for dinner and see what else is going on."

I liked the idea. "well what are we waiting for?"

* * *

><p>Ashlynn had quite the knack for finding places and things. We sat down at a moderatly posh italian restaurant. After we ordered our meal, we talked a bit.<p>

"I don't get it." Ashlynn said. "You get family fortunes, cars and I get a silly little necklace." She was wearing the pendant around her neck. It didn't exactly go with her skinny black jeans and white shirt, but who was I to judge?

"So did you see any neat places to go after dinner?" I suggested.

"Well, theres a dance club which looks pretty neat. Its all ages and it beats the next door strip club.

"That works for me."

We finished our food, which was delicious. I had fettucini alfredo and she had gnocci marinara. we walked down to the dance club. We bought the tickets and entered. There were alot of people our age. Alot of GOOD LOOKING people of our age. The place was littered with neon glowsticks and shining tinsel. The bass was so loud it felt like an earthquake was trembling. It was the life and soul of a good time. I don't dance much, but once I get going, I change personalities and become friendly with everyone. It met lots of people in that club. There were a group of guys who where trying to wheel some girls and failing miserably. There were a few girls who offered bjs to all the guys. It was obvious that the answer was no. And there was one guy who didn't seem to want to dance. I dragged him in and he ended up becoming just as hyped up as I was. Ashlynn was having a good time too. She was pretty crazy. Then again, she was crazy already. She was talking to a bunch of guys who were trying to hook up with her. It was funny to watch as she strongly rejected them all. We talked a bit with each other too, but only as much as we chatted with everyone else. It was around 9:15PM and I was talking to the wheeling guys when a team of equally hot, equally slut looking girls came in. One of them eyed me immediately. She had curled brown hair, big boobs and was wearing a short red skirt. She was sexy. She came up to me and gave me a seductive tap on the shoulder. She whispered in my ear.

"Can you come with me for a sec?"

Hooked by her good looks and her interest in me, i followed her out to the back of the building. It was an alleyway with nobody around. She closed the door shut behind us.

"So, you from outta town?"

"Uh yeah I guess-" I was stopped midsentance. She suddenly grabbed me by the throat and pinned me against the wall.

"Herryy." She hissed. Her voice had changed. It was coarse and haggish. I realised that her appearance had changed too. She was an old haggish looking woman. Her skin was green and she had wings and a tail. It matched Ashlynns description of a harpie perfectly.

She had me pinned against the wall but my hands were free. U used all my strength and pulled her fingers away from my throat. She had quite a grip but I managed to rip her hand from my gasping neck. With my feet on the ground, I felt that the fight was now in my favour. I swung a at her abdomen, she blocked it but that punch was just the distraction. My right leg hooked around her ankles and I flung her into the ground. With her pinned down, I knocked her out with a punch to the temple. I stood up from the unconcious monsters's grasp.

"That is SICK AND WRONG." I yelled. "I would have hooked up with you too but no, you had to try and KILL ME!"

I realized that there were more in the club. The other girls that came in with her must have been other harpies. I had to get Ashlynn and get out of there. I ran for the door. It was locked. I had to run back to the front, show the ticket guy my ticket, and find her. I found her talking to some guy.

"Look Ashlynn, we need to get out of here." I told her. She laughed.

"Why? We're having so much fun here."

"Look" I said, leaning in to whisper. "I just got attacked by a harpie. There are others here too."

The grin disappeared from her face. I noticed she had noticed the team of girls looking at us from the far side.

"Yeah good idea lets get outta here." We both left together in a rush. the man she was originally was talking to tried to quickly ask for her number. We barged past him with close to no regard. If we didn't leave, we would be in serious trouble.

And it looked like trouble was following us. Sure enough, the team of girls came out, following us. There were three of them.

"I've got an idea." I whispered to Ashlynn. She heard my idea and agreed to it. We picked up the pace into the same alleyway I had just been in. the first harpie was still knocked out on the ground. The others followed us into the alleyway but once they turned the corner, we were gone. They investigated the body of their friend.

"GO!" I yelled and both ashlynn and I jumped down from the roof on to two of the harpies. I hit mine right in the noggin and got her out of the fight early. Ashlynn had landed on the others shoulder and was wrestling it on the ground. That left me and the other. This one was larger than the others and it lunged at me. I dodged her quickly and elbowed her in the back. It sent her flying into the first harpy who was regaining conciousness. Now she had another harpie on top of her. Meanwhile Ashlynn rolled on top of the Harpy but it just pushed her off. It went for a swing but Ashlynn, all of a sudden she gutted it with her foot. It was as fast as lightning and the Harpie fell onto the pile. Now there were four defeated harpies on the ground.

"Woah," I said, stepping back after the adrenaline.

"Woah? I didn't even know I COULD fight like that!" screamed Ashlynn.

"Lets get out of here before they wake up." I recommended. She agreed and we drove back to the motel without stopping.

* * *

><p>"Well that was... ...scary." Ashlynn concluded once we reached the room.<p>

"OK from now on, lets sick together."

"Agreed. Well that tired me out. I'm hitting the bed."Ashlynn popped into the bathroom, then fell instantly to sleep the second she touched the bed.

I decided to read my book some more. I had identified all of the seven heroes in the book. Mr Brook had gone all the way with basing them off. hey were named the same too. I was at chapter 7 when things got interesting to me. The team was on a truck to meet the oracle. When they found him they asked him who and where a boy named Neil was. It got really freaky to me when the Oracle held Theresa, my mothers hand and spoke:

_You don't need me to find him. The ability is within you._

The words echoed through my head like they did last night. I closed the book and turned off the lamp. It struck me the second the lights went out.

The book wasn't fictional. Those things actually happened. Cronus escaped from tartarus and released Typhon. My dad along with five others defeated it. I knew, becuase I realized that what my dad showed my in my dreams, were his memories.

**That was a long one. I don't have a question for today. Sorry :(**

**Please review and have a good day!**


	11. Movies in Your Head When You Fall Asleep

**Hello all (: Time for the next chapter. Sorry, but I haven't been in a very "writing" mood lately**

**Honeyg: LOL it was only a joke. :)**

I was hoping for a peaceful, dreamless night of sleep. That request was denied. I soon found myself in a similar, dark room.

My mother was there, but not sitting or crying. She stood under a damp light, beckoning me to come closer. I walked slowly. Careful not to trip and fall. As I approached her, I saw her face more clearly. She was indeed frail and tired, but her eyes gleamed of hope and she ran at me and embraced me in a desperate hug to squeeze the air out of me. She let go of me and looked at me.

"My Son." She was close to crying, "You've grown up so much." She hugged me again. More prepared, I hugged her back.

"Hi mum." Was the best thing I could think of. I was ashamed of my limited mind.

"Don't be ashamed Herry." She said. "I can read your mind you know."

I gulped. "You mean you actually are psychic?" I felt her nod. She spoke to me in my head.

_I see you have been reading Archies book. You already figured out it was all real? That was quick._

"Um mum, nothing personal but I do like to keep somethings private."

"Oh sorry hun." She finally let go of me.

"Well, all these dreams have had some message for me. What is it this time?" I asked, trying to be polite as I could.

"I am here to show you something." She said.

"Show me what? This room is empty besides you and me."

My mum smiled. "Just like your father, analysing everything. We have everything we need here." I wasn't onto what she was getting at. She smiled and touched my forehead. It was like she brought back the words in my head.

_You don't need me to find him, the ability is within you._

She let go as I stood, startled at the message she was telling me.

"Y-your telling me, that I am psychic too?" She nodded.

"How? I'm not a mind reader or telepathic."

"They come in time, but you can sense danger can't you? Something about those harpies drew your attention the second they were in the room."

"Their boobs?" I suggested sarcastically. My mum just laughed.

"No there was more than that and you knew it. You sensed it at the cemetery too." I didn't deny her that. I felt that something funny was going on the second I stepped out of the car at the funeral. I figured that it was the depressing atmosphere but apparently not.

"So what does this mean? Do I have some kind of sixth sense?"

My mum nodded. "Precisely. Your powers will grow in time. The trick, is to focus. I must go now, I don't have much time left." She started backing away from me.

"Mum, WAIT." I stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Yes darling?"

"Why did the mayor really send you all the way to the institution? I think there was more to it than what people have told me."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm here, and I can reach you from here. I will see you again soon. I love you Herry." She kissed me on the cheek and she faded into the blackness, leaving me alone.

I muttered, "I miss you mum."

* * *

><p>I was awoken by a high pitched scream, which had me out of my sleeping bag ready to defend myself. I looked to my right. Ashlynn was sitting rigid in her bed in a cold sweat. She breathed heavily and when she noticed I was awake, she blushed to a purple haze.<p>

"Are you alright?" I asked sincerely. She shook her head. She was quiet for a while.

"Bad dream." She whispered quietly.

I sat on the side of the bed, trying to comfort her "What happened in the dream?" I gave her a pat on her cool, sweaty shoulder.

She spoke slowly and insecurely, "It was of my family. I saw them dead on the ground. Blood. There was so much blood. They were piled on top of one another like some kind of mass grave. I heard a scary dark laugh,and then I woke up." Her breathing returned to normal and the sweat disappeared. I looked at the clock. It was 5:30. The sun was about to rise.

"Hey," I nudged her. "We should get going. You can rest more in the car. She sniffed and nodded. I left her in privacy to change as I packed the car and checked out at the empty counter. I simply left the keys there as I had already paid the day before. As I walked away, I thought about my conversation with my mother. It was like she was physically there, except she was in my dreams. She told me I had the same potential that she had to become psychic I wanted to test that theory, but I knew I was not capable of reading minds or controlling people.

But could I be in time?

Ashlynn came out of the room with all of her stuff. As she stepped into the car, she had red eyes and a tear down her cheek. Ashlynn seemed like a tough nut to crack. I knew at an instant when I met her, she wouldn't cry easily. I suggested the thought that there was more to that dream than she told me. It was just a dream. As far as my book told me, her parents were not the telepathic ones so there was no way she was getting messages from her parents like I got. Come to think of it, my dad wasn't telepathic either. My mind was boggled about how HE was communicating with me.

Yet there Ashlynn was, crying. I wanted to help her, but I knew that she was hiding her tears from me. She wanted to look strong and tough. Not crying away so I decided not to bother her about it. I hoped it would make her feel better if I didn't notice them.

We drove for miles and miles with no other car to be seen. We were now amongst the true wilderness of Northern Ontario, a bleak land filled with rocks, trees, and water. Quiet as it was, the scenery would be amazing. The highway often revealed fantastic views of lakes and valleys. I stopped several times to take a picture with my ipod. Just in case We ever managed to end this mess that had screwed up our lives.

That left me wondering. Where will we go when this is all over? Will all this ever end? Why have the burdens of the father fallen to the son? That last question just came to me. Ashlynn slept peacefully through most of the day. I really felt sorry for her. She put a lot of effort to appear tough and be different from all the other, more girly girls. And I just witnessed those pillars crumble. In the end, we are all human aren't we?

What happened at the motel was between me and Ashlynn. I would have never told anyone anyways, even if she didn't tell me to say nothing about it. Comparatively, she was braver and tougher than most people thrice her age. She had come with me the whole way across a province, looking death in the face and still managing to fight. Our travels had just begun, but both of us had learned so much.

**Sorry, this one is a shorty for today. **

**Here is the question of today: What do you think happened to Jay?**

**I want to see your answers. And as always, review the story, and have a nice day! :)**


	12. Words, Hands, Hearts

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**A quick heads up that in a week, I will be on vacation for a week so that means no fanfics from me. I'm sure you will all make without. :)**

"3 hours to Winnipeg." I told myself as the sun began to set. We were no longer in Ontario. We were in the province of Manitoba which was notorious for its spring floods and vast plains. Luckily, we were past the flooding season. I couldn't imagine the extra troubles of floods on top of greek mythical monsters.

How was Ashlynn might you ask? I cheered her up a little by buying her some tim hortons coffee. The places were at almost every junction. By midday, she was relaxed and happy, admiring the scenery and having a few naps. I, on the other hand had driven for 12 hours straight. My ass was tender and numb and I could barely keep my eyes open. Winnipeg was a few hours away. I was trying to make the extra effort to get there, not very easily though. The roads began to get busy again and my focus was not very good.

"Herry, maybe we should stop for the night." Ashlynn suggested. "Theres a bed and breakfast on the next junction. lets crash there."

"But were so close to the city." I mumbled.

"Look, if we keep going, youre going to crash into something or fall asleep on the wheel." lets go." Her voice was more stern this time with a little impatience added. I sighed. I wasn't in a mood to argue.

"Fine." I said as I changed lanes into for the next off ramp. We drived quietly into the village. It was called HadashVille. We parked into the driveway of the bed and breakfast. An old woman greeted us.

"Hello dears. I am Mrs Dee. Can I get you two a room?" She seemed like a sweet old woman. In her sixties, maybe seventies.

"That would be lovely Mrs Dee." Politely answered Ashlynn. Better her than me. I was too tired to be polite.

"I'll get your beds ready." She walked off upstairs as we flopped ourselves on the couches." I stared at the ceiling.

"Nice place." I commented. "Seems pretty old."

"Yeah," Ashlynn agreed. She was staring at the ceiling too. Mrs Dee came in with a tray of mugs.

"I made you dears some cocoa. It looks like you two have had a long day." She lay the tray down on the coffee table. We sat upright and began sipping the drink. It was sweet and chocolatey and made my taste buds dance in my mouth.

"What brings you two out so far?" The old woman asked. We looked at each other. We had no idea how to cover up the actual story.

"Uh, well..." Ashlynn started.

"We are on our way back to the city after doing some research in Thunder Bay." I blurted out. It seemed pretty foolproof.

"Researchers eh? You two do look a little young..."

"We're actually in university. We both look a little young for our age." said Ashlynn, following up on my theory. Mrs Dee just shrugged.

"So why do you live all the way out here mam?" asked Ashlynn. The old woman's cheeks wrinkled from her smile.

"My husband and I moved here after the War of new Olympia. We did it to get away from the cities."

My eyes widened. "Youre a veteran of New Olympia?" I said in amazement.

She nodded. "I get all the veteran discounts too!"

I wanted to know more. "I'm sorry, I just really interested about the subject. It must have been scary."

"Indeed." She began. "It feels so long ago. My husband and I had an house just south of the city. It was so frightening when they told us about the aliens. We decided to pack our things and get the hell out of there. I remember in the car we listened to the radio and heard that a resistance was being set up in the city. At first, I didn't want to do it, but my children, who were all teenagers at the time, felt that they wanted to protect their homes. I refused quickly but my husband thought it over and agreed with them. After half an hour of influencing me, they got me on their side. So we joined the resistance. You would never see so many people working together for the common good. No fundraising event could top it. The most extraordinary thing, was that it was being led by a mere teenager. When we originally heard the message, we thought it was the military but no, it was an average, honour role student of the local school. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to unify the military, the police, everything, to his side.

And then the battle came. It was like something from ancient mythology. Two powerful forces colliding. You could smell the death. You could hear it, but most of all, you could see it. People getting pulled apart by massive beasts, exploding heads. Horrifying beyond belief. I would be dead right now if it wasn't for this one young woman. She had scarlet hair, like yours and she wielded a bow. I remember a huge beast had me pinned down, and it would have killed me if she hadn't shot it in the eye. Bless her to bits. I never saw her again after that moment. I figured that she was killed later in the battle.

My husband and I survived the battle." She began to cry. "But only one of my three children survived. My daughter. Both my sons, dead." She sobbed in her chair. I felt sorry for her. No parent should ever have to bury their child. Ever.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said comfortingly. She looked up at me. The tears drying on her face.

"You look an awful lot like the leader of the resistance. You know that? If I ever would meet that man again, I would give him the greatest thanks. He virtually saved the world you know. He stopped an army of monsters from destroying the world. He may have led the battle that killed my sons, but he was not responsible." She had stopped crying now. Poor woman. With a tone of frustration in her voice, she spoke on. "And now the ungrateful people of New Olympia want his head. Its all the people who didn't fight ya know? They return to the after math of a war and they expect that everything goes back to normal. They brought it unto themselves you know, refusing to pay taxes until they fix the sewers. Pathetic." She looked at our weary bodies. "I think I have said enough for a night. You two best get some sleep."

Ashlynn got up, ready to go to sleep. As did I, but before we left the room, curiosty got the best of me.

"Mrs Dee?"

"Yes dear?"

"The history books say they were aliens who attacked New Olympia, but you said that they were monsters and beasts."

She gave me a suspicious look. "Has anyone told you differently?"

I got surprised by her aggressive tone. "Uh, no. Not at all. Just curious." I smiled politely and went upstairs.

"Smooth." Ashlynn commented as I surpassed her on the stairs.

The room was cozy. Mrs Dee was considerate enough to give us a room with two single beds. A relief from last night. I dozed off fairly fast, just to have Ashlynn interrupt my beauty sleep.

"Herry?"

"Yeah?" We were both whispering. Confident that Mrs Dee had retreated to her room on the third floor.

"That woman that saved her life. That must have been my mom."

"Yeah. Thats easy for you to say. My dad was the LEADER of the whole thing. Thats like being a general or something."

"Crazy. You have some serious family history by the sounds of it."

"Yeah. Remember when Medea told me she had a fling with my anchestor. Wasn't that the greek hero Jason who had that thing going on with her? At least in the myth?"

"Wow. That would make you-"

"An anchestor of a hero from Greek Mythology. That sounds so wierd saying aloud.

"I know. Do you think that all of this may have to do with your dad's disappearance?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I think something happened in that war that nobody talks about. I know they aliens were actually monsters, but I think there is more to it than that."

"Yeah. Im going to sleep now. Goodnight."

"Night."

I went into such a deep sleep that not even a dream from my parents could wake me up. A dreamless night. Bliss.

**Not a lot of action in this one sorry. However, I hope you are enjoying the story! I plan to finish act two before I leave for vacation.**

**QOTD: Why do you read my stories?(just curious)**

**If you guys have any questions about the story that you are confused about. Don't be afraid to message me and I will gladly answer for you. Unless the answer will spoil the plot. ;)**


	13. These Lights Will Inspire You

**Hey guys. :)**

**This story is now my most reviewed with 24! :D Thanks everyone!**

**I am developing a bit of a writers block :(. I am not sure if I actually will be able to finish act 2 by friday sorry. :(**

I woke up late that morning. At least late for my now unusual routine. When my eyes opened, Ashlynn was not in the room. I figured she went doenstairs for breakfast. Realizing how hungry I actually was, I stumbled down the stairs as well.

Ashlynn greeted me with a wave in the kitchen. Mrs Dee was cooking up some waffles and more of her fantastic hot chocolate. I sat opposite my redheaded friend and ate as much as a whale. A) The food was delicious. B)I was starving.

"So will you two be going into the city today?" Asked Mrs Dee.

"Uh yeah I guess."

"Then you two should really get going before rush hour. The streets get very busy." She recommended. I finished my plate. We gave her thanks, and resumed our impossible journey. For being a quarter of the size of Toronto, Winnepeg was a very busy city. Traffic was slow on the highway, so we agreed to ditch it and take a side road into town. We drove through suburban areas and plazas.

"Why don't we spend the day in the city?" recommended Ashlynn as the skyscrapers began to ascend in the flat distance. I had been driving virtually nonstop since Thunder Bay. I didn't need much convincing.

"Gladly." I turned on the radio and turned it up. Empire State of Mind was on. Wrong city, right mood. We arrived at around noon. Lunch hour for the office workers so the streets were hustling and bustling.

We parked in the public car park. Locked the heavy doors and we were off. Two teenagers, no school, no goals, one city. We spent lunch at a greek restaurant. We relaxed in the park for an hour afterwards then headed to the waterpark. It was then that I realised it was the 1st of May. One step closer to sweet summer. Winnepeg, even at that time of the year was very hot. Ashlynn and I had a blast at the waterpark. It was not quite as big as wonderland in Toronto, but it sufficed. After an afternoon of waterfights, lazy rivers, and slides, Ashlynn and I agreed to settle nearby for the night. Winnipeg was not well known for its tourism. The most tourism were for the haunted houses. We did find a dance club that was worth going to, and a nearby restaurant for dinner. We sat down with a table for two. We got some funny looks. People probably saw us as a couple. It did seem odd. Me, the quiet and polite guy and Ashlynn,the loud, independent made us both laugh. The people wouldn't understand what we had been through. If they did know, they would be scared that they were amongst high value targets of some powerful guy in greek mythology.

The place we chose was basically a pub. It had a drinks bar, some tables and several TVs showing sports. In this case, the news was on. ashlynn and I stopped our conversation about Green Day to listen as breaking news hit the TV.

The woman on the screen began; "After two weeks of violent protests on New Olympia, the federal government has finally agreed to begin searching for and prosecuting the Heroes of New Olympia." silence filled the building as people watched the Prime Ministers speech.

"Citizens of this great nation, the house of commons has finally agreed that the riots and protests in new olympia need to stop. Without rights violations, this seems like the only soloution. It pains me to decree this, but rewards will be given to those who hand over the Heroes of New Olympia, who are acused of fraud and treason against the people." The screen returned the reporter. "The government has decreed that such actions are being taken so that property and lives will not be further harmed in riots andprotests in New Olympia. So far, one hero has been found."

"Please don't be Odie." I whispered to myself. Ashlynn was definetly hoping it wasn't her family.

"The arrested Hero is Odie Gallaher. The man who ended the war in Libya. He is the guardian of a boy who apparently ran away from home. Police are looking into the case to check if any domestic abuse. His Fiance, Medellia Boulevard has been outraged by the arrest and had been convicted of interference of the arrest. The trials begin tomorrow for this Hero of New Olympia." The news then went off about sports and the liveliness of the bar returned.

"Oh my god." I clenched my hair. "Its all my fault. I should have stayed home."

Ashlynn calmed me by comforting my clenched arm. "There was nothing you could have done. It would have happened anyways."

"Yeah but because I ran away, people are thinking of him as a child abusive parent. Even if he is proved innocent, he will have that title."

"He wasn't an abusive parent Herry."

"Tell that to the media." For once I had a point.I loved winning debates. Especially against Ashlynn who almost always won the arguments. The media was going to feast on Odies convictions and make him look like a horrible person. I wanted to do something about it, but if I did, all of what we had done would have been in vain. I had to keep going and maintain our low profile.

"I'm worried that they will torture him into telling about the others. Like my parents. What would happen to my siblings if my parents disappeared? The twins wouldn't last long. And who would be mad enough to adopt them? Ryan would end up in some gang on the streets and god knows what else."

I relaxed my shoulders. "They don't have torture in Canada. Thats a US secondly, Odies a tough nut. He won't give up without a fight."

She smiled. "You cheered up fairly quickly."

I shrugged. "You had a good point, and besides, we have a dance club to go to. Lets try and stick together this time." She nodded. We paid our bill and walked out of the pub.

That was when it happened. I felt suddenly negative. Not from inside, but from around me. Like bad feelings were giving off heat in a direction. I recognised the feeling. I felt it in the graveyard, and in Thunder Bay. My head started to ache. I pressed my hand against my head like Harry potter would with his scar. Ashlynn noticed my wierd behaviour.

"You all right there?"

I looked around. I don't know how, but I saw crystal clear, two city blocks away behind us was a blonde woman in a red t shirt looking directly at me.

It was Medea. her eyes had that sharp and evil glow. I then realized that feeling was my sixth sense that my mother had told me about. I was sensing danger. That heat of negative was in her direction. I started to panick.

"Ashlynn, we need to get out of here." She choked a luagh.

"What the hell are you blabbering on about?"

"Its Medea, she must have been following us since my house."

"How do you know?"

"I err..." I could't find the right word to use. "I sense it."

"Ok wait, so on top of super strength, serious guts and cute eyes-"

"You think I'm have cute eyes?" She blushed big time.

"Never mind. Now you have some kind of spidey sense?"

"I guess. But trust me. Shes following us. Two blocks away."

Ashlynn looked back. Her hawk like eyes picked up a certain Medea all right because her blushing grin disappeared.

"Oh shit you're right."

"Get to the truck?"

"Good idea." We began to run. We both knew exactly where the car park was. One block west and two north. The setting sun made it clear where west was. I sensed the negative feeling(Medea) was starting to run too. She was full sprinting along the now quiet sidewalks. I had one look back.

"BOOK IT!" I yelled at Ashlynn. I was already sprinting.

Have you ever seen a cheetah run? If you haven't. Its very impressive. All the power goes to the muscular legs of the cat and then, the rest is history. When I told Ashlynn to run, I thought some kind of engine was running those legs because she was faster than Usaine Bolt on steroids.

STEROIDS.

I had no chance of keeping up. Before she was too far ahead, I gave her the keys to start up the car without me. Medea on the other hand, was getting closer to me. Ashlynn had already turned the corner before Medea was at my heels. How do girls run so fast? I was thinking to myself. If I kept running, Medea was going to tackle me.

Luckily, I approached the corner. Instead of turning right over the road, I turned left. This caught Medea by surprise as I hid behind the building corner and tackled her instead. It was on a quieter road thank god. If people were here, cops would have come and separated us. I pinned Medea to the ground.

"Why are you all after me and my friend?"

I felt her legs come between me and her and she kicked me into the air. Landing on my ass.

"If I still had my body, I would have killed you by now." She snarled. "No matter. I will kill you anyways. You see, my master has promised me my old body in return for your head." She drew out a long, crooked dagger.

I raised my fists. "You have not answered the whole question you bitch."

She cackled like the witch she was. "Have you not heard the prophecy?"

I kept my fists up ready to fight. "What prophecy?"

Before Medea could say another word, she got rammed from behind by a yellow truck. Ashlynn was in the drivers seat.

"Get in before she wakes up!" She screamed. I quickly dashed for the passenger seat. Ashlynn skidded off. Out of the city, towards the highway.

"WOAH." I breathed. "Thanks for saving me. She would have cut me up pretty badly."

"Well, it seemed that you two were having a lovely conversation." She mocked. "Any clues?"

"She said something about a prophecy." I breathed heavily. Tired from the running and fighting.

"A prophecy?"

"A statement that tells the future."

"Anything else?"

"She was going to say something, but then you came along and made her roadkill."

"You're welcome."

I laughed as we hot the highway, which was jammed for some reason.

I asked Ashlynn. "Since when could you drive?"

"I have had my G1 license for a while now. But I wasn't sure if I was up to the challenge of driving for 12 hours."

"Well you're driving just fine right now."

"We're stuck in traffic."

I laughed. "And WHERE did you learn to run like that? You were like lightning!"

She blushed lightly. "I was on the cross country team and track since grade 5. Went to regionals every time."

I was impressed. Not only was Ashlynn badass and independent. But she could run seriously fast.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing noise ahead of us. It followed with a car a few metres ahead being flown into the air. Driver and all. It landed on its top in the ditch. The driver was surely injured. It wasn't as worrying as the 12 foot giant charging towards us. It looked similar to the one at the funeral, excpet this one was green and had a godzilla like tail. The cars around us booked out of its way, allowing us to move.

"Drive towards the ditch." I commanded Ashlynn. She followed my instruction. We dodged the monster charge and drove into and over the ditch onto a farm field full of cows.

"Do you have any weapons in your bag?" I asked Ashlynn.

"I have a bow and some arrows why?"

"Cause that thing is coming after us!"

Sure enough, she looked back and saw mr godzilla rampaging after us. She stopped the car and took a bow and a quiver of arrows out of her back.

"I'll shoot you drive." Was all that she said. She jumped into the back of the truck. I clambered over to the drivers seat, floored the gas pedal and headed full speed away from the beast.

I dodged a few cows and broke through the fence into the next plot. This was an empty field with no animals. Now it was time to take care of this thing.

I circled around. The giant had bounded through the fence to catch us.

"KEEP IT STEADY!" Ashlynn yelled in the open boot. I slowed down making it easier for her shoot. The giant charged again,

Closer.

Closer.

CLOSER.

Ashlynn shot an arrow it flew dead into its neck. It stopped charging and fell to its chubby knees. Gasping for breath, the giant collapsed in its own, cold blood. Dead.

"Holy fuck." Ashlynn shakily said. "I killed it."

"Better it than us. Nice shot."

She slowly made it to the passenger seat, putting her bow and arrow away.

"New rule." I said. "From now on, we will have to avoid highways and cities. We put risk to people around us with our very presence. We will have to get to New Olympia by side roads from here on."

Ashlynn, shocked from what she had done, shakily said. "OK."

We drove off silently on the gravel road before the authorities arrived. That was one hell of a day.

**I would like to once again thank all my reviewers including:**

**Historiangirl**

**HoneyGoddess57 (HoneyG)**

**Kiwi Ingenuity**

**princess101855**

**ILY143**

**Here is todays question:**

**Who is your favourite character to WRITE about?**

**I like to write about Herry and Jay cuz I can relate to them alot. Herry, in my mind is a quiet guy who doesnt talk alot to people outside of his friends group and Jay, i can relate to his decisions and why they are good or bad. And the fact he feels guilty about everything.**

**See you all next time! :D**


	14. THE PROPHECY

**God I love summer. I wrote this while chilling on my hammock. Relaxed much?**

We drove for two hours with no stops. I didn't blink. We had to get away from the scene of the crime. As far as i could tell, the only thing I could see was fields of grass on either side of the empty road. Not a building in sight. I decided to stop the car at the side of the road. I walked over to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Ashlynn. We have been driving for two hours with no sign of civilization. It looks like we will have to camp this one out."

She looked at me slowly and got out of the car. She was traumatized. But still, she unpacked her tent and set it up amongst the eight foot tall grass. She took out a small gas stove and began boiling water for some noodles. We sat in the small area of flattened grass, several feet away from the truck. The dim light of the gas stove made it just enough for me to see Ashlynn. She was gazing at the stars.

I decided to look up too. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Stars stretched the midnight sky from east to west. The milky way, as clear as the clouds themselves. I sat, mesmerized by the beauty of the world. I spoke aloud.

"This isn't so bad."

Ashlynn turned her eyes to me. Her eyes looked sad and demotivated. "It is beautiful." She replied. Looking back up to the moon, which was white as snow.

"It never looked like this in Toronto." I said. "I guess I'm glad it isn't. It makes you treasure it more when you see it here." I looked at her. "You miss your family. don't you."

She sighed. "Yeah. I miss my brothers, as crazy as it sounds. I hope they're alright. I miss their fights. I miss my parents too. My dad would always cheer me up if I was sad. Whether we were wrestling, going fishing, he knew what to do. And I could talk to my mom about anything that was on my mind." She sighed.

"You miss your friends at school?"

She shook her head. "In school, you don't actually wouldn't recognize me. In school, I'm quite outside what they consider normal."

I frowned. 'How?"

"I mean, look at me. All the girls think I am weird because I don't care what the newest perfume is, or because I don't get scared in horror movies. They think of me as a freak."

"You're not a freak."

"Yes I am. All the girls called me speedy becuase I did so well on the cross country. According to them, sports is a guys thing. There was one girl who told me to stop pretending to be a guy. She left that conversation with a bloody nose. I got suspended but I didn't care. That bitch got what was coming to her."

I was silent for a few seconds. "So what was all this about the violent boyfriend?"

She smiled. "Oh yeah that. Well it was last winter and winter semi formal was coming up. I never had a date for one of those things but the bitches were taking all the nice guys. There was this grade 11 guy who asked me. He seemed nice at first, so we went and eventually went out. Then he wanted me to be more girly. I stood my ground. That was when the fights started. I wanted to walk away and dump him, but he wouldn't let me. Then he threatened to kill me if I dumped him. Thats when I told Ryan. He at first seemed unemotional as always, but then it was like something possessed him. He nearly killed my boyfriend. He never talked to me again."

I sat there, shocked. It was like I didn't know her at all.

"so what about you have you had any girlfriends?"

I blushed. "Well, err, there was one girl back in grade 9..."

"I'm listening..." Her eyes were fixed on me. Staring into the depths of my eyes, trying to make me regurgitate the information.

"Her name was Danielle. We kinda hooked up at a party. We broke up after the second date."

"Why?"

"I was too quiet, she was too loud. Too different."

"Thats a shame."

"Yeah. Its nothing compared to your story."

"Ha, yeah." She looked at the stove. The water was finally ready. We each made ourselves a cup o noodles. Camp food. Nothing like it. As we ate our late dinner, we stared back into space once again.

"Do you ever wonder if there's anyone out there? Do you think there are people out there, wondering what it is like here?" Ashlynn asked.

"I don't know. I guess i do. Do you?"

"Yeah. The universe is so big, and we are less than a spec in reality."

I sighed. "I don't even know what reality is anymore. All of these things that have happened to us. I don't know what to believe or who."

"It does seem that our lives have become impossible evandours."

"Yeah." I smiled. We sat there, talking about lifes problems for an hour. Eventually, we both hit the sack. And I felt that my dad had a lot of explaining to do about this prophecy.

* * *

><p>And answers, I knew I would find as I fell asleep. I appeared in a room, lighted by a single lamp on a desk. Above the desk was the blueprint of a sailboat. I recognized that blueprint.<p>

Sure enough, my dad was sitting by his desk, checking through the mail. There was another light. I realized that I this was my old house. My mother walked by the doorway. She looked younger and had a round waist. She was obviously pregnant with me. I would say 6 months in.

"Jay, I am going to bed now. Care to join me?" She looked so happy and when my dad looked to talk to her, he had such a happy smile on his face. Life must have been good at the time.

"I'll be up in a minute." Theresa shrugged and walked awkwardly upstairs.

My focus went back to my dad. He was shifting through bills and congratulations cards. He stopped at one envelope. It had golden bordering and had a red stamp with a lightning bolt on it. My dad looked curiously at the card as he opened it. I watched as he read the page down, that his mood changed. It began happy to confused, to surprised, to horrified. He put down the letter and ran up the stairs. Yelling my mothers name.

I moved into the chair, deciding to reach for the ornate paper and started reading. This is what it said word for word.

_Dear Jay and Theresa,_

_I hope you are enjoying your lives, but I bear the burden of bad news. Last week, the Oracle declared a prophecy. One that involves you and your to be child._

_The war has ended but a new one has begun._

_A deal has been broken under the shadow of the sun._

_The unspoken one shall awaken. With redoubled fury._

_It can only be stopped by the only son of the greatest of the great._

_The first one of millenia, and the last one forever._

_Only he can prevent the coming chaos._

_You know that prophecies cannot be changed. What has been said will happen. I'm afraid that peace will have to wait for your family. It is undoubtedy your coming child that the prophecy declares. it must be your unbound duty to protect him, until he is gods are with you. We will do what we can._

_-Hera._

I was speechless. _Unspoken one_ sounded insanely scary. And I was the only person who could stop it. That oracle guy must have been bonkers. Me? Stop an unspoken evil? Why had my parents never told me about this? It might have been handy to know that I had to save the world within my lifetime. I took a deep breath, and calmed down. That prophecy answered a few questions, but there was something else I wanted to know.

"Dad", I spoke, "I don't know where you are or how you are reaching me, but can you show me Odie? I have to see him."

I waited for a moment in the empty room. Suddenly, the scene changed. I was now surrounded by concrete walls with a iron barred door. Odie was sitting on a bench. Two men walked in. It appeared to be a police officer and a guard.

"Odie?" The first man said in deep voice. Odie looked up. The officer relaxed his eyebrows. "I am just here to say sorry. What we are doing to you and your friends is not in the interest of the government. The only reason you are here is to prevent further casualties in the riots."

"I understand." said Odie with a clear sign of forgiveness in his voice. The man spoke on a little.

'We were wondering if you would reveal to us where we could find some of your friends. If you say where they are, it would make our lives much easier. If you say no, we will not question you further."

Odie shook his head. "As much as I see your view officer, I must respectfully say no to your question."

The officer looked at the floor. "Very well. Your trial begins tomorrow. I have no idea how that will end for you. I bid you good luck." He left the room for Odie to think and feel frustration. I wanted to help Odie, but I knew that if I did, all this would be in vain. I hoped that maybe the Oracle will have the answer. Only time would tell.

I knew he couldn't hear me, but I said it anyways.

"I'll get you out of there Odie. I'll ensure you, my mom, the others who are yet to join you. I'll get them all out. I promise."

**Thats one hell of a prophecy eh? Not my best chapter, but meh. :/**

**QOTD: Any guesses about this unspoken one? I know EXACTLY what it is. o.O**

**Have a great summer day! Or if you're in the southern hemishpere, winter day! :D**


	15. You've Been Thunderstruck

**AshlynnThis will be the last post of this story for a while. I leave for vacation in a few days and I am planning a little something for you guys. ;)**

The sun sneaked over the flat horizon at around 8. It penetrated the thin fabric of the tent and into my eyes. I rolled out of my sleeping bag, careful not to wake Ashlynn, who slept peacefully on the other side of the tent. My laid my bare feet on top of the dew and grass. There was rain last night and the field was shrouded in mist.

Beautiful. It was like a beautiful dream. Something I had not had in weeks. My mind was tired from all the messages in my sleep and we had a long day of driving aimlessly west. I went ahead and started pouring myself a plastic bowl of cereal. As I ate, I watched the sun rise further into the pale sky. Soon enough, Ashlynn woke up. She ate, we packep up and left our cosy campsite.

In the car. I told Ashlynn about my dream and the prophecy. I somehow managed to memorize it word for word.

"God damn thats freaky. What the hell is this Unspoken One?" She commented.

"I don't know. I don't want to know. But I need to." I continued driving. We were both tired, hungry and cold. The truck could only warm us up so much.

"We need to find somewhere for a pit stop. Anywhere would do." Ashlynn said. She took out a map, looking for somewhere to rest.

"There is a village an hour ahead. Lets head there."

We got there, as she predicted within the hour. It was not much of a village though. There were several farmhouses, a few townhouses, a grocery, and a bar. The bar was surrounded by motorcycles and was blaring ACDC music. We decided to take the risk and go into the bar for a drink and a bathroom break.

We entered to see around 12 Hulk Hogan like characters yelling around and drinking. One of them was hitting on the annoyed waitress and it was an all round unpleasant atmosphere. We walked up the bar and ordered two cokes. The smell of cigarettes was thick and the bikers, who seemed to be the only other customers, were yelling and shoving around. As we waited for the drinks, I told Ashlynn, "I'm going to the bathroom. be right back." I walked off to the bathroom, did my buisness in the smelly urinal, and started washing my hands when I noticed that the condom machine had been bashed open and the little packages littered the floor. If these bikers were regular customers, I would guess they cost a lot of damage to the town over time. The bathroom reeked of piss and the toilet door was broken off of its hinges.

I walked out and there the hype of the bikers was alot higher now. They were circled around something. I could have been a fight. I slid my way through to see a big, blond man with a mullet and mustache pushing around Ashlynn, they were all laughing including the man. Ashlynn was figting back. I realized that the man was trying to rape her. He reached for her again, she slapped him. He laughed and shook it off.

"Mmmm Fiesty." He reached for her again. I looked at the bartender and the waitress. They stood behind the bar in fear. we exchanged stares. They did not have the power to kick these guys out.

But maybe I did.

What I did seemed stupid. One sixteen year old vs 12 fully grown bikers? Yes I did.

I moved in and pulled the man away from Ashlynn, who was pinned to the ground.

"LEAVE HER ALONE." The bar went silent. The waitress in the back looked away, and the bartender stood in shock. The blond man who was attacking Ashlynn was bigger when he was facing you. He was completely ripped and wore a sleeveless denim jacket and leather pants. He looked down at me.

"What did'ya say kid?" Hell, he was terrifying. I wanted to run away, but that would leave Ashlynn alone to be molested and raped. No I was standing my ground.

"You heard me. Leave my friend alone." I looked at her. She had a black eye and was clutching her shoulder. It looked out of place. I shouldn't have left her alone in the bar.

"Are ya dumb kid? Theres twelve of us and one of you. I'll give you one more chance to get your little ass outta here before I pound ya."

It was a convincing offer, but I remembered that I had my super strength. it would be difficult, but I could take them on.

"No you listen to me. Leave this poor town alone and my friend. Then I won't have to hurt any of you."

They all burst out laughing. "Ain't you heard of me punk?" The blond man said. "I'm Steel Sam. The head of the McSweeney gang. Lets get him boys."

Two men started coming at me. big as Steel Sam, but not the blond hair. The first one threw a punch. I grabbed his wrist, span him around me and launched him into the other, sending them back into the next table. These guys were tough. They were down, but not out. The other bikers were stunned. Staring at me.

"What are you waiting for?" Yelled Sam. "GET HIM!"Six of them came at me at once. This was going to get fun. The first one came at me. He aimed for my gut, I pulled him forward and elbowed him in the back of the head, making him hit the ground with a thump. Next were two more. I jumped into the air and landed on the shoulders of one of them. Pulling his hair, I yanked him into the other. Their heads collided with a bang. I jumped off to kick another one in the head, then lock my legs around his head and slammed him to the ground. One more attacked me from behind and charged me into a table. He prepared to punch me into oblivion when I grabbed for the wooden chair and slammed it into his side. I stood up ready for another go with six groaning bikers at me feet.

"Is that it?" I asked panting. The bartender was biting his teeth and the waitress was shielding her eyes. The two bikers I first took were limping and the other three were booking it out of the bar. It was just me and Steel Sam. And the crawling bodies of his followers. I couldn't see Ashlynn.

"You think you're all that kid? They call me steel Sam for a a reason. He pulled off his leather gloves to reveal an artificial hand, made of steel. He punched me quickly. I couldn't block it. It felt like his steel fist was ripping through me. He went for it again, this time I blocked it and kicked him in the waist with all my strength. He shot back a few feet. He came at me again. I was clutching my abdomen where he punched me. I was vulnerable. He took out a switchblade, poised to kill. It knew this was the the end, but before he reached me, a beer bottle crashed into his head. It sent him crashing to the ground with small shards of glass in his noggin. Behind him, was Ashlynn, still limping and hurt, but with a broken bottle in her hand.

"Thanks." I panted.

"You alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine. You?"

She didn't say, she just dropped the bottle and started clutching her left arm. She screamed in pain and agony. I jumped up to help her. I inspected her shoulder. it was dislocated. My attention turned to behind me.

"Thank you." Said the bartender, finally coming out from behind the bar. "Those bikers have terrorized this town for years. I'll call the cops right away. You, my good man, are very brave."

"Don't sweat it. Where is the nearest hospital?" I asked.

"Its several hours North. You wouldn't get there till nightfall though."

"Is there anywhere West?"

The man thought. His eyes brightened. "There is a larger town. There is a police department there. Maybe they can help you."

Before he could say more, I was carrying Ashlynn to the truck. Her cries of pain could be heard across the whole town.

I drove nonstop to the next town. We surpassed some cops going the other way. Obviously for the gang member we took out. We arrived at the town but the police were all out on duty.

"Please, just make the pain stop." Ashlynn cried. I realized there was no other option. I had to pop her shoulder back in for her. I was qualified in first aid. I knew how to do it, but I was nervous.

"I'll have to pop it back in for you. Let's get somewhere quiet." I went to the only motel in the town. I left her in the car to buy a room, then I helped her up the stairs. The room was the last one to the right. She sat down on the side of the bed, still clutching her dislocated shoulder. I gently placed myself beside her, handing her a stressball.

"This is going to hurt a lot, but once it is over, there won't be any more pain." She nodded, clenching her teeth and squeezing the stressball. Ready to embrace the worst imaginable pain.

"I'll do it on three. One, two, three."

I pulled the arm down then pushed it up and back into position.

_Click_

"ARRGGHH"

Ashlynn's screams of pain were unimaginable. It illustrated the worst imaginable pain ever. When the screaming ended, she collapsed onto me, breathing heavily.

"It's alright. It's over now." I wrapped my arm around her, doing my best to comfort her.

"You saved me back there. Thank you." was all she muttered. I held her for as long as i needed to. She eventually parted to rest. As I stood up from the bed I realized something. Ashlynn and I made a pretty good team. How and why made no sense. We were a team now. We had each other's back. Upon that thought, I asked myself a question.

"Why did the prophecy say nothing about her? I wouldn't have gotten far without Ashlynn."

**It boils down to the fact that if something looks stetchy, don't go there. XD. Anyways, have a nice time, I will continue the story when I return from my vacation.**

**Question: Have you ever broken a bone or dislocated something? I broke my wrist once. It SUCKED.**


	16. You Know it's Never Too Late

**(AN) After a relaxing and peaceful holiday, I have returned to keep my promise and finish this story. Been a while. :) I hope you didn't miss me too much!**

April moved into May, May rolled onto June as Ashlynn and I slowly crept through the vast sea of farm fields known as the Canadian prairies. Life was pretty simple now. We woke up at some hotel or motel, or if we never reached a town before sunset we camped out in our tents. After a breakfast, we took off, drove west on the country roads that seemed empty and far from the highways, where the eyes of countless monsters patiently waited for us.

I have not mentioned it much, but I had been reading Archies book. Every night, before some warning for the next day sent from my parents in my dreams, I would read several chapters. It was hard to beleive that my dad endured so many pains, that he was chased by ravaging gods, monsters and whatever Cronus would spit up from his volume of tricks and plots to destroy my dad and the team. It seemed so much like a little cartoon show, but deep down, I knew that the truth was that this was all too real.

I wished my dad had told me about his story, his legend. But he didn't. Neither of them didn't. My parents never told me. I hated them for it, but I knew that it was only for my safety. I realized that these attacks only really started after my dad disappeared. It was like the monsters were waiting for me to head out on my own, unprotected. He must have put me in the placement of poor Odie to continue that level of protection. Some protection dad.

Speaking of Odie, his trial was a disaster. The jury was completely biased and agreed to him being guilty of all charges. All the judges and the lawyers seemed to be surprised. Odies lawyer even said that they seemed possessed by something. It was all a big mess. It all made me feel guilty for leaving him to suffer for the rest of his life behind bars. But I made a promise. A promise that I would keep or take to my grave; to get him out of there.

So far, no more heroes of New Olympia had been arrestedr. Ashlynn was always on end when we watched the news. Beads of sweat coming down on her tanned complexion. Every time. Since that event back with the McSweeney gang, we've been getting closer. We're best friends all the way really. Its more comfortable sleeping in the same room. We had one incident where she accidentally walked in on me having a shower. Her face as red as her hair, she shut the door immediately. We laughed it off later. Her fighting skills have grown beyond mine now. She was faster, more agile, and performed deadly blows as if she had fought like that her whole entire life. I remember one night we decided to challenge each other to a fight. For fun obviously. She had me down pretty quickly but then I lifted her up with one hand, lifting her just out of reach of me so she couldn't attack me. Good times. :)

I sensed Medea pretty much the whole time. She was definetly following us. We beat her up pretty badly back in Winnepeg, so she hadn't been attacking. Just keeping at a safe distance, watching our every move. That didn't stop her giants from attacking. Every other day, some godzilla or a minotaur or harpy or some sort of monster had a go at us. We always either knocked it out or sent it running with it's tail between its legs. I sometimes wondered if Medea was this unspoken one. I doubted it. Medea was awoken somehow from the dead, spokbut she isen of in myths. How could she be the unspoken one? Besides, she had a master. She said so herself.

My tried to ask my dad what happened to him in my dreams everytime he showed up in my dreams. He would never reveal it, like he was still trying to hide the truth, like the truth that I had learnt out of his lies already. The unreachable truth was mental torture.

July 1st. Canada Day. Ashlynn and I woke up from our room in a hotel a few hours out of Calgary. It was early morning but the smell of barbecues and pemeal bacon filled the tiny town already. I woke up first, climbed out of my sleeping bag and stared out on the balcony. Whiffing the smokey air and admiring the orange sunrise.

Today was going to be a good day.

Ashlynn got up shortly after and stole the bathroom, despite the fact I had already been in. She walked out with a towel around her body. I turned around to say good morning. She smiled and signaled me to look away. I was not one for being disrespectful so I looked back onto the distance, staring into the far east. Odie was out there somewhere, locked up for saving the world.

"You, know. We haven't been in a city for ages. I think we should head into Calgary today, maybe see the fireworks. Celebrate." Ashlynn suggested. I began to turn around, presuming she had done changing but she stopped me before I saw anything.

"Did I say you could look?"

"Sorry. Thought you were done. I'm not sure. We would be risking others if we go into town."

"For gods sake Herry, we just fought off a large number of bad guys yesterday. They usually wait two or three days before attacking again anyways. You can sense danger like ten minutes before it happens now too. And besides, its a holiday. Let's have some fun please?" Her voice was trying to be persuasive. She was trying to charm me with her pretty voice. Too bad I was a sucker for pretty voices.

"Alright." I sighed. "Just for tonight, then we resume our path. Can I look back now?"

"Aye aye captain, and yeah you can." Looked around to see Ashlynn looking remarkably different. Instead of wearing her tom boy outfit with skinny jeans and a paramore t shirt, she was in a hollister tank and short shorts. Hell, she looked great. She made me look rather tacky in my converses, my scruffy jeans and half dirty H&M t shirt.

"Is there an event I don't know about?" I joked curiously.

"I felt like changing. Got a problem with that?" She smiled. I laughed and we headed off.

* * *

><p>It was an amazing day. We started out buying special red and white iced cappucinos from Tim Hortons, we moved on to a large outdoor concert with tons of local bands and the legends, Hedley showed up played several songs as well like Young and Stupid along with Never too Late. We managed to get some pictures with them once they disappeared backstage. The guys were older than my parents but still looking great. That went on for the whole afternoon. Ashlynn and I stopped for some lunch at an Irish pub and had dinner at a really nice restaurant. Having millions of dollars at my exposal was very handy. There was no way someone needed half a billion dollars. One percent of it could last you a whole lifetime. The best part was that I didn't sense danger. None at all. It was like Medea stopped following us once we entered the city.<p>

"Come on Herry. If we get there earlier, we will get better seats." Ashlynn pulled me by the hand around the park, where fireworks were to happen once then sun disappeared from the horizon. We sat down with extra large slushies and a popcorn to share on the side of a hill facing the river, where a barge carrying millions of dollars worth of fireworks waited. We waited eagerly for the sun to disappear beneath the surrounding skyscrapers.

As the last rays disappeared beneath the horizon, I looked at Ashlynn. The dark pink sky reflected off of her skin and only then, did I beautiful she was. I recall saying that she looked good when I first met her, but that was before I left home with her, saved her skin, her saving mine a few times. There was something different about her now. I felt those butterflies you get in your stomach when you're nervous. I recognised that feeling. I asked my self;

_Was she always this beautiful?_

BOOM

The twanging of a guitar fell right in sync with a golden firework. The embers falling down from the sky like they were sent from the heavens themselves. The crowd instantly stood up to cheer and roar in excitement. We joined them. As the music and the fireworks continued, they became only more glorious and bigger. There were fireworks of red and white and countless other colours around it. The fireworks were like stars, falling from the skies to join us down here. It seemed magical.

I felt an urge at that point. It was like I had no control over my hand. It just happened. My hand snuck its way over to Ashlynns and held it gently. Surprised by the sudden feeling around her hand, Ashlynn looked to see what it was and looked back to me. She smiled from ear to ear and we interlocked our fingers together. Holding hands. Not like the way she was pulling me around earlier. This hold was gentle and well, affectionate. It was something I had never really felt before. I had never felt like this towards any other girl in my life ever. Not that one girlfriend back in grade 9, not that girl I had a little crush on back in Kindergarten. No. This was different.

To be honest, I was a nervous wreck at this point. I was expressing my feelings and she could have said no and the rest of this journey would be uncomfortable and awkward. But she didn't. She kept her hand around mine. Maybe there was another reason why I felt so nervous. It was because I realized that she felt the same way back. I never really considered myself important to anybody when it came to such feelings. Now there was this and well, it was amazing. My hand moved from her hand to her waist eventually and held her closer. At first I expected her to push me away, but instead, she leaned into me and wrapped her arm around my ribs. It felt great, you know, holding her and her holding me.

Like all things, the firework show, ended. People began to leave the park, leaving cigarette butts and gatorade bottles all over the ground, but Ashlynn and I were sitting down together, still on the hill. We were looking up into space, staring at the cloudy sky. We almost fell asleep out there. The warm summer night air filled our lungs and out came words and laughter. Eventually, we headed back to a local hotel in the city

We walked into the room. It had only one bed. Knowing the drill, I began unrolling the sleeping bag.

"You know what Herry, why don't you come up here? Its probably more comfy than the rock hard floor."

"Uh, sure." I said nervously. I rolled up the sleeping bag and joined her side on the king sized double bed. We decided to watch some TV before we hit the sack. Diego Coast was on. (Future Jersey Shore XD) We watched it for a while. Well, I watched it. Half way through, I noticed that Ashlynn had fallen asleep on me. He head was resting on my chest as she slept peacefully. Deciding not to ruin the moment or wake her up, I carefully slouched down to a lying position and turned off the TV.

I was not down for a depressing dream that night...

**(AN) Okay, that was a little fluffy. Romance is not my strength don't judge me. :P I would just like to remind you all of the horrible event in Norway yesterday, where over 100 people were shot. Please have them in your thoughts and prayers (if you pray). I wish the best for the families of the deceased. RIP**

**BTW I was not paid to say that.**

**PCE**

**-AngryOlympian**


	17. If I die before I wake

**Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is it. The last chapter of Act 2. I want to say thank you for all the reviews everybody! One away from 40 :O Sorry about the delayed release. There were *ahem*,**

**SETBACKS.**

We drove out of Calgary early that morning. Soon, we were on a mysterious country road as if we had never been to the city. Well, that wasn't entirely true. The memories were still there. Amazing memories. I wanted to relive them again.

Hours passed on the empty gravel path. The farm fields began to vanish as oceans of grass which also vanished onto a deserted barren wasteland where nothing grew but shrubs and grass. Much, much later, I saw something in the far, far distance. A wall, it grew as we came closer, eventually. white tips appeared atop the grey wall. Closer and closer we got, and the wall separated into pieces.

You guess it. It was no wall. They were the rocky mountains. I had seen them on postcards and in pictures. The real things put those silly images to shame. They were glorious feats of nature. Some were so big you couldn't see the top. Ashlynn and I gazed in awe as we approached the mountains. I came to realize, many months ago, I was sitting in a waiting room, fearing the future. Well, I bet I never would have guessed this. Only when we reached such a wonder of the world, did we realize how far we had come. The pains and risks we endured. The bonds we shared. It seemed like something out of a movie.

As great and glorious as it seemed, I felt that something wasn't right. It wasn't like the feeling I had around Medea. It felt broader. Like it was everywhere. Whatever was beyond those mountains, I suspected it wasn't going to be a celebration.

Ashlynn took out the map. "The only paths around the mountains seem to be the highways and main roads. We should try to get to one the first chance we get."

I agreed, a little nervous about highways since Mr Godzilla, but there didn't seem to be much choice.

"There is a main road a few kicks South. I'll take a left turn the first chance I get." We drove on waiting for a junction. We came across one eventually. I began to turn but stopped immediately. The road was taped off with a sign saying.

"Road closed. Please continue to next junction."

I reversed back onto the road. "Thats inconvenient." I mumbled sarcastically. "Come on. Let's keep going."

We kept moving. Driving to the next junction.

"You've got to be kidding me." This road was also closed. So was the next, and the next, and the next. It was way too suspicious. Eventually, we found our selves on the same road at the foot of a big mountain. There were trees and the gravel path winded around them. The turns were sharp and unpredictable. You couldn't see what was coming. I was confident that we were the only car around.

around ten minutes on the road when Ashlynn scream.

"HERRY STOP!" I screeched the car into a halt. I saw what she was yelling about. The road just ended with not even enough room for a u turn. The air was damp and cool as we got out of the car. This place screamed spooky. A few feet off of the path was a small cave entrance. It seemed like the only way forward.

"It looks like we might need to ditch the truck." said Ashlynn.

"No way. That thing has brought us this far, I am not giving it up. We'll go back. Find another path."

"There is no other path. Let's at least have a look. It could lead to the other side." said Ashlynn. I had no further argument. I took out a flashlight from the truck and decided to have a peek inside. The frame of the entrance had mysterious writing on it. Some kind of ancient language. I stepped into the cave. I cold and wet breeze came from inside. I turned on the flashlight. It was nothing but a dark and cold cave. I walked in further. Ashlynn began walking in to join me.

Suddenly, the wind picked up, the ground began to rumble. Rocks began to fall from the sky. It was time to leave. I ran for the entrance, or in this case my exit. It was too late. Rocks began to pile in front of the entrance between me and the exit. Ashlynn was on the other side. I stopped dead in my tracks as rocks poured on top of one another. My path was completely blocked. I was blocked in.

"ASHLYNN!" I called. If she was hurt, I wouldn't have known what to do. I waited, calling again and again, terrified to hear a response. I finally heard her voice from a tiny mouse hole in the top.

"I'm all right! Are you OK?"

"Not good there's 20 feet of rocks between you and me. Even with my strength, it would take ages to get through it all."

I heard her curse under her breath. "Umm, well what should we do?"

"This tunnel seems to keep going. I'm going to head into it. You take the car and get around wherever you can."

"Alright. And Herry,"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't get hurt." Her voice was considerate and caring. I smiled, happy to know she cared.

"I'll try." I replied. And with that, I walked into the cave with nothing but a flashlight and my thoughts.

* * *

><p>I already mentioned that the cave was cold and damp, well, it only got worse as I descended further and further. A shroud of dark mist littered the hallway. There was an unusual breeze and the echoes of my footsteps could be heard in every corner.<p>

It was downright spooky. The darkness, the silence and that bizarre wind. As I wound around a corner, I stepped on something crunchy. I looked down and jumped back in fright. Bones of long since deceased man was at my feet. I had just so happened to speed right through the empty skull. The bones looked dry and old, like they had been there millenia. The hand was gripped around something. I inspected it and saw that it was a sword. I surprisingly impressive condition too. I guess the lack of UV rays down here preserved it. It was still usable. Figuring that whatever killed this person might still be here, I took his sword as a precaution and walked further into the cave.

Eventually, I wandered into a large cavern with a high ceiling and a flat floor, as if it were made to fit a king. As I entered the massive room, the mist at my feet rose up and surrounded me on all sides. My heart was pounding so hard, I could have leapt out of my chest. I felt that someone was watching me, ready to ambush me. The wind picked up again and I heard a muffled voice. I jumped out of socks and tried to step back, sword at the ready. The wind died down again as the voice came back. A deep and dark voice.

_So we finally meet Herry. You seem so much like your father._

The voice seemed like it was everywhere. I spin myself around pointing my flashlight in all directions. It was hopeless with all the mist.

"Who are you?" I bellowed. You could hear my voice echo across walls and ceilings.

_How rude of you. Did your parents not teach you manners?_

The voice sounded nothing polite at all. It screamed of evil and dark thoughts.

"Who are you and what do you know about my parents?"

Silence filled the room. I managed to stumble across the wall in which I followed shakily for an exit from this nightmarish room.

_Your parents? I know everything about your parents. I know everything about everyone. You cannot hide from me. You're going the wrong way._

It chuckled evilly. My senses were screaming danger everywhere. It was like they were going into overload. My head was throbbing from it.

_I see you inherited your mother's skills. I remember she was so powerful, she had the power to destroy the gods. If it weren't for her bloody boyfriend, she would have. I'm sorry. Am I ruining your book for you?_

How did he know so much about me and my pass times? How did he know my name? This man- no this THING was playing tricks with me. I managed to find the exit and booked it out of the hell hole of that room. The mist was gone and the air was clear. I exhaled, glad that it seemed over.

Hell was I wrong. The mist from the other room began to follow me into the tunnel. I heard the mist cackle as it approached me. I desperation, I swung the sword at it.

"Get away from me!" The cackling continued.

_Aha, a good swing. Much like your fathers. _I swung again and again, trying to keep the mist away. It didn't work very well. I decided to ditch the sword and run. The mist followed me.

_Ahaha. What? Are you scared? Did the lady in white not warn you of me? Did she?_

I tripped and fell on the solid ground. "What lady in white?" I yelled when I got back up to keep running.

_You know all too well. The old woman who seemed to watch over you when you were in school. Even when you were asleep, she would watch over you. Did you not notice?_

I got a grip and remembered. He was talking about my old babysitter. Old, white dress and wise eyes.

"What is so important about her?"

I was panicking now. Trying to find an exit from this nightmare. My head was killing me, I was running out of breath due to all the running, and I was getting disoriented by the mist which now surrounded me.

_Bwahaha. You mean you didn't know? You couldn't even realize your babysitter was the queen of the gods?_

"Queen of the gods? Why would the Queen of the Gods babysit ME?"

_To try and protect you. To prepare your fight against..._

_me._

A surge of horror and surprise stuck me. This thing this creature, this was the unspoken one of the prophecy. And here I was, cornered, frightened. How was I supposed to fight this thing? It was something from a nightmare.

_Run all you like. Sooner or later, this cave will become your grave._

I slipped and tripped as I ran away from the unspoken one, trying not to let his words get to my head. As hard as I tried, he still spoke to me.

_I have heard much about your travels Herry, got a little girlfriend now?_

I stopped dead in my tracks. Fear was replaced by anger and fury. I turned to the mist.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?"

_You would think that with those senses that you would have suspected a trap. I was the one that separated you two. In here, you are as good as dead. There is no way out for you. As for her, she could have taken your place. Because of your mistake, she will die a long and painful death and it is all your fault._

"No. NO." I screamed my head buried in my hands, I panicked. I had to stop. He was getting to my head. He was lying. He had to be lying. I tried to reassure myself.

But what if he's telling the truth?

I swelled with anger. I picked up a large boulder and hurled it at the mist. I heard a large thud as the rock hit the far wall.

_Impressive. I wonder where that strength came from?_

I stood up. My face was covered with sweat and dirt.

"You know. Don't you?"

_What can I say, the blood of a god flows through your veins. Why else would the gods choose you as the only obstacle between me and eveything they love?_

"Did you just say, the blood of a god?"

_Oh please, like those arrogant gods would just let the worlds greatest hero just die like a mortal. Your daddy has been keeping secrets from you I see._

It all made sense. My dad wasn't dead, he had joined the gods at Mt Olympus. That was how we managed to send me visions and memories. That must have been why he disappeared. But what did my dad do to make the gods so proud? Did he defeat Cronus? Or was this mist like unspoken one Cronus and that he had left the job half done?

_So are you going to keep running or shall I strike you where you stand?_

"I'm not scared of you!" I yelled.

_Oh really? Let's see about that..._

Right on cue, my flashlight began losing power. The light began to die. I curse and began running. I needed to get out of there, no matter what. Then disaster struck. I hit a dead end. I was cornered. And the cackle of the unspoken one approached. My flashlight was completely gone now. I was surrounded by complete and utter darkness.

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my shoulder blade. It was like someone stabbed me with a poison dagger. I collapsed to the ground, feeling that this was the end. I felt the pain extend throughout my arm. I began going into shock. My body began to shut down.

All of a sudden, I heard a loud crashing noise and a blinding light. I heard the yell of surprise of the mist man and the last thing I heard before blacking out was a familiar voice.

"Don't you fucking touch him."

Ashlynns voice. And with that, I passed out.

**That was an attempt at a bit of a nightmare come real. You cant escape, all you feel is pain, no escape... did I say that already? Oh well. :P REVIEW and i hope you enjoyed the whole story. Next chapter will be the beginning of act 3.**


	18. Meanwhile in BC

**Act 3 here we go. I've given up on giving unique names to chapters so here we go.**

**Time to figure out what was really going on outside of the creepy cave. This will be the ONLY chapter in Ashlynns POV. It takes place right after that last conversation they had.**

I didn't want to leave Herry alone in that cave. It was the last thing I wanted to do. It's how people die in horror movies. They wander into somewhere dark and creep, just to get killed or murdered. I had finally found what seemed like the perfect guy for me, and I wasn't going to lose him in some cave. But he was Herry, the guy had super strength, spidey senses, and hey, gorgeous eyes. He could look after himself, and so could I. I finally decided to do what he said and take the truck around the mountain that inconveniently blocked our path.

I decided to completely ignore the first road closed sign and bust out onto the road. It seemed mighty suspicious that 7 roads would all be closed. But maybe if there were any workers around, they would help me get to Herry.

But there was nothing. Nothing as far as the eye could see except for the road and the trees at the foothills of the mountains which loomed over the barren desert to my left.

In fact, there weren't even any road works or anything. The signs were a hoax, a trap. Herry was MEANT to get stuck in that cave. Whoever was this unspoken one, he could have been in there. Herry was in real danger and I had to do whatever I could to save him. I pressed more on the gas until I reached a large highway. It seemed to go right past the mountain. Perfect. We weren't so far from civilization after all.

It seemed easy. Too easy. I ascended onto the highway and I heard the acceleration of a motorcycle. It was unusual seeing that I was the only one on the road. I checked my mirror to see a woman on a scarlet motorcycle with curly blonde hair flowing from behind her helmet and a luminous visor.

You guess it, it was Medea. I floored it. Medea followed me. We entered the mountain valley, both at full speed. She was gaining on me. I looked in the mirror again, she had one hand on the handles and with the other she was forming some kind of green glow. She pushed that hand in the direction of the car and the green light expanded into a luminous cannonball. It struck the truck so hard, the rear lifted off of the road and flew us into the side ditch. I braced myself for impact as the truck rolled into the small ravine. When the truck stopped rolling, I was lucky enough to have little more than a few ripps on my clothes. Incredible. I crawled out of the wreckage, regaining my balance. Medea was at the side of the road, looking down at me. I managed to finally stand up and grab my bow and arrows from the back seat. The woman smiled evilly and hurled another bowling ball of green light at me. I dodged as it sent the truck up in flames. I recovered from a roll and aimed my arrow right at her large breasts. The shot missed as medea managed to dodge it and she jumped down, hands glowing, eyes glowing. An arrow was already on my string.

"You look a little lonely..." she muttered.

"What have you done to Herry?" I spat out.

"Me? Nothing? It was all my master. Because of your actions in Winnipeg, I failed my mission, but now I can get some payback." She lunged herself at me, but I dodged. She was about to learn why not to mess with a Brook. The right hook. I learned to wrestle and fight from the best; my dad. I learned so those horrid bitches back in my old school would stop being so, well, bitchy to me. I delivered it perfectly into Medeas cheek, knocking her clean onto the muddy ground. She came at em again and I bounced off of a tree and swung myself onto a tree branch, bring some serious momentum to my foot which got her right in the chest. I had her pinned to the ground but her hands were glowing again and the sent my flying back a couple of feet, hitting the ground pretty hard. My wrist was sprained easy and the medea was coming towards we for the final blow.

Now to tell you the truth, there were one or two things where I had not been totally honest with Herry. In my bag, I had packed a little more than just a bow and arrows. The night I snuck out, I raided my parents' office and stole two things' a fancy wrist collar and a metal whip. Whenever herry wasn't looking or was asleep, I often tried to figure out how they worked. It turned out that the wrist collar was a minature crossbow that fired lasers. Insane if you ask me. and the whip was a unique kind of grappling hook thing that cut through anything. I tested it with a cement block. Messy results. I had no clue why my parents had such bizzare weapons, or even why they had weapons in the first place. But what I did do was keep the wrist collar on me at all times. Medea seemed triumphant as she raised a massive axe that she simply formed out of thin air. Once it was over her head, I moved lightning fast. Before she knew it, I had jerked my arm out, opened up the crossbos and fired a shot right into her abdomen.

Medea dropped the axe and crumpled in pain. I stood u, clutching my arm. I kicked her with my heel to the back of her head. If she wasn't dead, she was in a coma at least. I looked at the truck. It was completely destroyed. I grabbed what I could, which was my wallet, Herry had his, my rucksack which had a first aid kit and some extra survival stuff and my dad's whip. There was no way this truck was going anywhere and the rest of the contents where burning already. I noticed onething that seemed untouched. I grabbed it.

_Class of the Titans by Archie Brook_

I knew Herry had been reading that book. It had given both of us knowledge and awareness of the mess we were in. I put in my rucksack and worked my way up the hill. The road was deserted still but the explosions would have caught someones attention. Authorities would eventually show up. I needed a ride and fast.

Medea's bike was still there. The keys were still in the ignition and she even left the helmet on one of the handles. How convenient. I took the bike and raced towards the nearest right turn. Worked my way around the mountain and soon found myself surrounded by trees and a massive mountain looming over me. It had been almost a full day and the sun was setting.

How in the hell was I going to find Herry here? If he was anywhere, he was in the mountain somewhere. I needed to find an entrance, but where in the world could it be?

I looked for a trail. Maybe a path that was similar to the one we were on earlier. I paced back and forth on the bike up and down that road. I went up evey trail, every road, every suspicious trail, but there was nothing. Then, as the sky went pink and the sun gave way to the stars, I noticed a trail that I had obviously missed the first five times. I zoomed up it and noticed many signs that said "Danger, no trespassing." and such. At the end of the gravel road, there was an entrance to some kind of tunnel. It looked exactly like the one on the other side. It even had weird writing all over it. I was at the right place.

The entrance was blocked by a large boulder. I had just the tool to crack it open. I took out my father's whip and sliced the boulder in two. I could not believe my eyes. Herry was crawling on the ground with a stab wound in his shoulder blade. The blade was gone but it had left a black ooze all over the shoulder and he was screaming in pain. There was a monster, shaped in the form of mist with red beady eyes looking like it was about to feast on him, but he was blinded by the light. There was no way I was letting that THING eat my boyfriend.

"Don't you fucking touch him." I warned him. The monster had readjusted his eyes and roared at me.

"Let him go you son of a bitch." I shot it with the crossbow. The monster surprised by my ferocity, clenched the burn. I shot it again, and again, and again. I have me one last roar, and retreated into the dark depths of the cave. When it seemed gone for sure, I rushed to Herry. He was unconcious, but alive. He needed medical attention. I bandaged his shoulder wound and carried him to my bike. Men make it look so easy carrying girls. It is not as easy visa versa. Herry wasn't very big as far as men go, but he sure was damn heavy. His hair was wet with sweat and his skin was cold. I hauled him onto the bike and I set him between me and the controls. It was uncomfortable but Herry's life was at risk. There was no time to waste. I rushed him to the nearest town with a hospital. It was a half hour drive at full speed. The town was further north in the valley. It was the only hope for Herry. I stopped the bike in front of the hospital and ran with him in my arms. My arms were in pain from the weight never mind my sprained wrist. The lady at the desk in the emergency room greeted me. She had curly brown hair and looked around her 50s.

"What happened dear?" She asked calmly and nicely.

"He was stabbed. It may have been poisoned. He needs immediate help." I muttered from my gasping breath. Within seconds, Herry was on a stretcher and was run off to a room." That was when the lady started asking questions.

"Were you there at the incident?"

"No. I found him. But he's a very close friend."

"Do you have any family members we could contact?"

I stood silent for a moment. Herry's mom was in a mental clinic, Odie was in jail, his dad was godknowswhere, and he had run off from home.

"No." I finally said.

"Any emergency contacts?"

"Me."

"And your name is?"

"Ashlynn-" If I said my last name they could easily track us, "Underhill."

The lady nodded, obviously in too routine of a mood to notice how obvious my lies were.

"Alright Ms Underhill, we will keep you posted on his status.

* * *

><p>I the whole night in the waiting room, a tear flowing from my cheek every now and then, desperate to see Herry. If he died, I wouldn't have known what to do. It would have put all this effort, the sacrifices, the risks, all in vain. No, he would make it. He had to.<p>

In 4AM, a doctor called out a certain Ms Underhill. I stood up.

"Your friend will live, but he is still unconcious. Come with me." The dark haired doctor beckoned.

"The poison you mentioned is something that astounds me. We have sent some to the lab to test it. So far, they have never found such a unusual strain of biological material. I experienced it once before when two men came in drunk from partying in the woods south of here. They both died before we could help them. Your friend is lucky to be alive if you ask me and-, are you alright?"

I realized I was clenching my teeth and holding my sprained wrist. "Oh yeah, umm, I'm fine."

The doctor resumed talking. "While the poison did not kill him, he will be scarred for life. The scar will not recover, but his physical well being will be fine in a matter of days." We finally reached the room. Herry was lying on the hospital bed, linked up to blood. His arm was sealed up in bandages and he seemed sound asleep. I looked at him through the window.

"How long before he wakes?" I asked.

"Not anytime soon I'm afraid." said the doctor. "He might not wake up for a few days. I recommend that you get home and rest up."

"Can I see him?"

"Most certainly." He opened the door for me and I walked inside. He quietly closed it, allowing me and Herry to some privacy. I slowly walked up to the sleeping body of Herry. I noticed the heavy bags under his eyes, even when they were closed. Whatever had happened to him, it must have been hell and back, because his face looked like a ghost. Even still, I thought he looked handsome. He had gained some weight since our travels. And I'm not talking about fat. He was a strong looking, but thats not why I like him. He was so kind and caring. I foundd it hard he could find anything interesting in me, the tomboy that all the girls redeemed unfit to talk to. I sat down on the chair beside his bed. He had a piece of his ginger hair over his closed eye. I gently picked it up with my finger and set it aside. I had a strong urge to hug him, kiss him even. But that would have to wait, if it would ever happen.

I remembered Medea at that moment. Odds were that she was on the hunt for me again, angrier than ever. If I stayed there, she may have found Herry and killed him. I had to leave, for his sake. I would go to New Olympia without him,find the oracle and get some things straight. Maybe, when he was alive and strong again, we would see each other again. But like the doctor said, it could take days, weeks even, before I would see him again. I decided to give him what was rightfully his. I wrote a note at hiss side table, explaining what had happened to me, telling him my plans and where he can find me. His wallet was already at his side. I guessed the doctors took it out of his pocket while examining him. Whatever happened, I knew that for now, Herry was safe.

I decided to get some urge out of me and I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He would never know I did that, but even still, it almost felt like he did. I left him his book at the table too. I had no further reason to stay. It was time to leave this town, leave the hospital, lure Medea away from Herry.

Even as I turned on the motorcycle, I felt a form of satisfaction, like I had accomplished something worthwhile. After all I did save his life. Didn't I? Those where my final thoughts before rushing on my stolen motorcycle into the bleak blue of dawn.

**Woah, it is so weird talking as a girls point of view, talking about a guy****. :S**

**I know that my updates are getting lazy. I cannot promise it will improve though. Anyways. PLEASE REVIEW AND HAVE A NICE DAY. :)**


	19. Back to square one

**1 review in 3 days? VERY DISSAPOINTING PPL.**

**Well now that you saw ashlynns side of things, lets get back to where the story is meant to reside, with Herry.**

I woke up, head throbbing, body aching, in the middle of a hospital. The light above temporarily blinded me. Green curtains surrounded me on both sides with my head rest against the white wall. It felt so calm and relaxing, like a hospital should be. My eyes readjusted within a few seconds.

"Oh good you're awake." said a dark haired nurse as she walked by. "How are you feeling darlinng?"

The woman couldn't have been older than 30. By the time I was awake enough to speak, she had already fetched me a hot drink.

"I'm OK I think. What happened?" I asked.

"A young girl around your age brought you in. You had an infected stab wound which is fine now. The doctor said that there will be a scar. You've been out of it for almost 3 days now."

"Three days?" I replied in astonishment. It felt like I had been out for a second. Not that my brain would have known differently. The girl who took me in must have been Ashlynn. "Where's the girl?"

"She left in quite a hurry. She did leave some stuff here though for you." She beckoned to the table with my wallet, my book, and a note. The woman left me to inform the doctor about my awakening. In that time, I reached over with my sore arms for the note and began reading.

_Herry,_

_I went around the mountian like you said, but I had a run in with Medea. I managed to take her down enough to escape and find you. The truck is gone though. I retreived what I could. I found you in the entrance on the other side of the mountain. Whatever that thing that looked like mist was about o feast on you so I shot it and it retreated. I took you here. They say you are fine but may not wake up for a while. Knowing Medea, she was bound to get back on her feet soon enough. So I've left you here with your stuff to divert her. I'm going to New Olympia. I will find the Oracle if I can, but I will wait for you. Even if I have to wait years, I will wait for you. When you're strong enough, meet me there._

_I love you._

_-Ashlynn._

That last sentence caught me off guard. Love? Could a girl like her really love me? Did either of us even know what love is? I felt something with her that I had never felt before. I didn't know if it was love or not, but whatever it was, it was enough to make me determined enough to find her.

The doctor showed up from behind the green curtains. He had dark hair and a broad smile.

"I see you're awake. Can I please have your name sir? Your friend never told us what it is."

"Its uh, Harry."

"Well Harry, while it is good to see you awake, I am afraid we will have to keep you here until tomorrow morning."

"Fair enough."

The man walked closer. "You shouldn't need those bandages anymore." He unwrapped the bandage delicatly and what I saw before simply shocked me.

From the top of my shoulder, to the middle of my bicep, there was a tattoo on my left arm. Ink black and in a vine like pattern.

"What happened to my arm?" I asked frantickly.

The doctor who remained calm said, "The poison that infected your arm seemed to stain your skin tissue causing in the tattoo. How the ink formed in such an artistic patter is beyond me. That is the scar the nurse mentioned. It seems like it will be carried for life."

I stared at the tattoo. I didn't mind tattoos but I never wanted one myself, yet now I had one. At least it wasn't of some unicorn or dragon or something. It was a simple black pattern. I would have to live with it.

I was stuck in a hospital bed for 12 hours besides the occasional toilet break. I decided to settle down and read the book. Over the weeks, I had progressed through the adventures of my parents. I was on the second last story at this point. It was called, _The Phantom Rising. _

I read on for hours, consumed by the book as it told the tale of my mother becoming strong enough with her psychic abilities to take down Zeus, the head honcho of Greek Mythology, the big man, the undefeatable. And my mom beat him with a giant crab. That was when it got even better. She started turning on her friends. It took the feelings of Jay, my dad to stop her. It took a kiss to seal it away, return the powers of the gods, and return life to "Normal".

I wondered what my parents would have thought about my adventure. It wasn't quite as shiny or even as exciting. It was just me, driving across Canada, with a girl, who became all he cared about, and a destiny that he was clueless of.

It didn't sound so bad when you said it like that.

After finishing the happy ending with the false alrm on the defeated Cronus part, I had a nap and began reading the final chapter, "The Grande finale". Imagine a city full of humans. Now give them guns and other weapons and charge them against an army of ruthless monsters. Pretty grande if you ask me. It seemed a little overboard, like out of some fantasy movie or something. It didn't deter me from reading the whole story from beginning to end. It answered so many questions for me. It sealed the fact that my dad was a god. They offered it to him. simple as that. It was the battle that the old woman outside of Winnepeg was in and lost almost all her children. The fact that they were all hiding the truth about Greek Myths astounded me. How two thousand people managed to keep a mutual secret. It was why the authorities kept them anonymous until now. I read how Herry died. I kept myself from letting a tear from my eye fall when they said he was dead. The the team began going their separate ways after everything. My dad sailing to god knows where and my mom going to boarding school. It seemed rather anti climactic. But reality isn't a story, its reality. Reality doesn't follow climaxes or storylines. Shit happens I guess. And that was where the book ended. Cronus was dead. Mortal. Dead. GONE. How could that thing in the woods be Cronus. It wasn't. It was teh unspoken one, whoever that was. Only one man would know who it was; the Oracle. I knew that once I got out of this town, it was non stop to New Olympia.

But there was only one problem: Without a truck, how will I get there?

**Shorter than usual, but I might have had more motivation to write more if I had more than one review. ;)**

**Please review see you next time!**


	20. Thunderstorms and flying hybrids

**ZOMG so many reviews :). **

**I am sorry for not writing recently, I dont think i have writers block, i'm just not motivated to write this story atm. But i did make a promise that i will always finish my stories so I will have get past this and finish what i have planned. **

They finally let me out at around 7AM on a humid July morning. My body had stopped aching, but the tattoo was there to stay. It was crazy how it was a scar. People on the streets would think I'm some thug. My originaly ripped clothes had been replaced with a South African rugby Jersey; the doctor was an avid fan, and some checkered shorts. I wandered around town for a bit, eating breakfast and watching the news. Since I was out of it. The claimed to have found another Hero of New Olympia; Neil Brandemburg. They decided to start using confidental archives to find them now. It wasn't going to be long before they found Ashlynn's parents.

I needed to get to new Olympia as fast as possible, walking would take me months and hitch hiking seemed to be my only soloution. The town was far from any airport or train station. I decided that I might as well start walking. I walked on the side of the paved road that headed towards the highway. The humid air warned of a massive thunderstorm heading this way. The weather forecasted it so. And for once, the weatherman was correct. Hell, did it pour down. I ran into the woods for shelter from the wall of rain that came down on my head like liquid weights. I was a sitting duck. I had to wait for the rain to pass before I continued my journey. Miles from town or any civilization, I sat against the trunk of a large redwood and closed my eyes.

My senses snapped back in when I heard a snapping of a twig. I stood up quickly, on edge. The noise appeared again, behind me along with a rustle of a bush. I snuck in to investigate. The rain was lighter but still heavy. It was beginning to clear up and a mist filled the forest of glistening leaves. This creature seemed to be making alot of noise. It could have been a bear, or a giant. Ready to fight, I burst through the wall of bushes, but what I saw left me stunned.

I kid you not, there was a hybrid of an eagle, and a horse. It had wings and the hind quarters of a horse. It noticed me, but continued to graze on blackberries from a nearby bush. This was no enemy from my friend in the cave, it was too majestic. I noticed it had a collar with a tag and a note on it. I slowly approached the beast, careful to not disturb it. When I was close enough I placed my hand on its feathery shoulder. It turned to look at me, my heart skipped a beat, afraid it might eat me, but it didn't. It didn't seem to be bothered by me at all. In fact, it seemed to welcome my presence. I grabbed the tag, which was the size of an ipad. It read:

_Her name is Sandy. She's all yours._

_I heard you needed a ride into town, so here you go. The politically correct term for them is a griffin. She likes to eat berries but don't put your hand near her beak. She might bite._

_Love, dad._

I looked this situation over in my head. My dad had sent me a half horse half eagle beast to keep as a pet and use it to fly all the way to new Olympia. Why was I not freaked out? I guess I was kinda getting used to all these crazy Greek Myths coming true now. I looked at the Griffin. Sandy was looking me in the eye. Not with hunger, but she was kinda saying "So you're my new master eh?"

I gulped. "Uh, hey Sandy."

She seemed to make a purring sound when I said her name.

"So Sandy, I guess I own you now don't I? Hehe" I chuckled insecurely.

Sandy barked a gentle screech and lay down, beckoning me to get on her back. Warily at first, I placed myself right behind her muscular shoulders. The feathers made a comfortable seat. I grabbed the thick collar with both hands.

"So I guess I just say, fly?" The massive beast took off the second I said the word "fly". Within seconds, the trees were below us and we were soaring a solid 100 feet above the ground. It was gripping onto the collar for my life. Sandy was speeding and the wind was blasting me in the face.

"Easy Sandy slow down!" I yelled. She slowed down to a cruising speed, occasionally flapping her wings to maintain altitude. I adjusted myself to be comfortable. Before I was going anywhere, I needed to know how to control the griffin. I noticed there was a tiny button on the left hand side of the collar. I pressed it and a holographic TV turned on. It showed a short and skinny man with a leather cap tapping the camera.

"Is this thing on? Ok. Hello, new owner. I see you have acquired new griffin, these beasts are completely obedient to their owners. What is not known about these animals is that they have a telepathic connection to you. In other words, they can read your mind. Speaking commands is not always necessary all you have to do is think the command and he or she will obey. Please be aware that even in Greek Mythology, you must obey all air traffic regulations and it is still illegal to fly when under the influence. Enjoy flying with your new griffin!" The screen vanished into thin air.

What the wierd guy in the cap said seemed pretty clear. I decided to give it a shot. Holding the collar tightly, i thought:

_Glide right above the trees._

Almost instantly, Sandy swooped down at a phenominal speed right above the trees. The wind was blowing in my face, and I could not help but smile. This was like nothing you could ever imagine. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and I was yelling in joy and excitement as Sandy flew over the trees at the foot of the mountain.

_Alright Sandy, show me how fast you can go._

The griffin shreiked in excitement and turned up high into the cleared sky. I held on, knowing it could get tough to hold on. She opened up her speed. It was like a jet on a runway, speeding up until the unimaginable happened. I heard a loud bang and as I looked behind, a cloud had formed behind us. We had just broken the speed of sound. THAT was how fast Sandy was going. Funny how I was managing to hold on so comfortably. It was like riding a horse, only you were several thousand feet above the ground.

Sandy began to slow down and my grip relaxed as she set herself at a cruising speed.

_OK Sandy, take me to New Olympia._

She shrieked again and took off away from the rising sun and towards the next waves of the Rockie Mountains...

**Oh come on I HAD to. I love animals and I wanna fly. :(**

**Anyways, review, enjoy, and how about we have a question. I havent done one in a while.**

**What do you think Ashlynn is doing this whole time? Get creative please. Make it as twisted and weird as you want! ;)**


	21. It all makes sense

**50 REVIEWS **

**:D**

**It is time for me to take greek mythology into my own hands ladies and gentlemen.**

Sandy was one fast griffin. Flying over mountains and valleys, we approached New Olympia in matter of hours. I parked her outside in the nearby forest, telling her to stay hidden. And I left her to enter the city, and find my girlfriend.

The city was easy to get into. It wasn't known for it's massive suburbs like Toronto or any other massive city. My midday, I was downtown. Now, I had heard many rumours about New Olympia. It was known as a poor and crime infested concrete hellhole. I always thought that the rumours were exaggerated.

Hell was I wrong.

I saw hundreds of people, many younger than me, begging on the streets. Some of the buildings were boarded up and were forgotten about. There was one skyscraper which had a massive chunk missing from it. It must had never been rebuilt after the war. The streets smelt of sewage and while there were cars on the road, not many were more fancy than an cheap sedan. There a young man, cigarette in mouth, playing Nirvana on a rustic guitar. The place seemed unwashed, forgotten by the rest of the world. It was like a slum. Nobody that I passed seemed to smile much. Shops were open and running, but there were countless people outside of the waiting to pickpocket or beg for food. It was hard to watch, the poverty and chaos of this town. Despite the need of the people, many of the wealthier citizens seemed to avoid helping any of the people. I saw one middle aged man, a little on the heavy side walk past a beggar who asked for food. He just spat at the feet of the beggar and told him to sod off. There was so much wrong and misfortune in this city. It used to be at the height of everything around 30 years ago. Just looking around, one thought came by me;

This has to change.

I came across another problem; where the hell was Ashlynn? She could have been anywhere within the 4 million people who lived here. It could take days, maybe weeks to find her. I remembered what she said in her letter.

_You know where to find me._

* * *

><p>The day passed. I checked almost the entire waterfront for her. The water there was polluted and full of garbage. You could see people scavenging for anything that the Pacific Ocean washed up. Whether it was a dead fish or a sixpack of empty beer cans, they were there, trying to find things to make money or to feed on. The sun was setting in the far distance, giving off a pink sky above the ruined city. While I had money, finding a hotel or motel would not be easy. I decided to grab a coffee and keep on looking.<p>

The search for an open coffee shop sent me back into the city center. I came across a crossroad, which appeared to be a more business part of the city, as there was a little more wealth in the cars and clothing of the people around me. Even still, I saw no smiles on the faces of these people. I walked down the street, I noticed a Starbucks on the far end of the street. I began to pick up my pace when I heard a voice.

"Looking for someone?" I had heard that voice before. I turned around to see the speaker. It was an old bald man with a long face. He was the man from the vision. It was the Oracle.

"You- you're the oracle. Correct?" The man nodded.

"I know you have many questions Herry. But bring your friend back here when you find her. You both need to know the answers I have."

"So do you know where she is?" The man stared at me. He beckoned me closer with his fingers. When I saw closer, he leaned forward, inches from my face.

"You don't need ME to find her, the power is within you." He lifted his glasses to reveal glowing orbs instead of eyes, scaring the living shit out of me. I stepped back in fear. I knew that quote before. H ewas talking about my telepathic ability. He said the same thing to my mother.

Of course, I could have tracked her with my telepathic abilities. I felt extremely dumb for not thinking of it before. I decided to focus my mind. I concentrated on her characteristics; red hair, pale skin, blue eyes, curvy shape. I felt something. A warm and fuzzy feeling to my left. Not too far. I saw the oracle's face grow a smile. The first one all day. It was warm and wise.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Smiling back, I began running up the street. The feeling felt stronger and stronger as I cot closer. Several city blocks later, I wound up in front of a old, worn out church. I walked in. It was dark and empty, except for one, pretty redhead sitting in a bench at the front, unaware of my presence. Her head was held low.

"Even after all this, you still pray to god?" I broke the ice. She turned her head immediately and her eyes lit up the whole place. She booked it right to me and hugged me as tightly as she could. I held her back in affection.

Still hugging me, she spoke, " I wasn't expecting you for a few weeks." I laughed.

"I had a some extra help." I said. We departed from the embrace, looking right at each other. I wanted to kiss her so badly, it hurt. But I held it back for then.

"I'm sorry that I left you in the hospital, but I had Medea hot on my trail. She hasn't followed me in here, but I think it's because Its dangerous enough around here. I lost my wallet last night to a mugger. The city is littered with gangs, and I think that our friends the McSweeneys are around too."

"Don't worry, after the way we beat them last time, they would do well to avoid us." I joked, "So, where have you been sleeping?"

She shrugged. "Here. The place is abandoned and nobody comes in."

I checked my ipod. The times was 10:35. "I found the oracle. Maybe he has a more comfortable place to stay." She nodded with a smile. We had come across most of the second largest country in the world for this moment. This Oracle better have the answers we were looking for. The myths said that he knew everything. Past, present and future. It was time to put that to the test.

We walked up the silent street. Nobody was out but we were not mugged or stuck up. Lucky us. The oracle was under a street lamp at his stall, waiting for us. Of course, he knew that we were coming.

"You shouldn't underestimate your powers Herry, you have unlimited potential." The oracle said, "you both have many questions. I will answer them, but it is too dangerous out here. Come with me." He stepped up from his stool and beckoned us to follow him into a small woden door which sent us up to a tiny flat above an out of buisness bank. We sat down on a old couch as he made us both some coffee. We gladly accepted the cups of caffeine and he sat down on the wooden armchair opposite us.

"First things first Oracle, how are my parents?" Asked Ashlynn.

"In hiding. They put your brothers in the refuge of Pan's house and they have taken off North." The old man replied without hesitation. He looked at me.

"You, my friend have come a long way to see me. I know what your next question is. Who is this unspoken one?" He pulled the words out of my mouth.

"Well, who is he?"

"Do you children know the story of the titans?" The oracle asked us.

Ashlynn nodded. "Yes. There were twelve titans, Cronuis was king and they were overthrown by the Olympian gods."

The Oracle shook his head. "Nay, that is where you are wrong dear child. There was one other. Hidden from the knowledge of mortals since the dawn of time."

The room felt silent. Ashlynn and I stared at each other. A secret had been kept by the gods for millions of years. This was going to get good.

"What was his name?" I asked.

The Oracle explained. "We dare not say his real name, for such a name is too dangerous to even mutter. We only know of him as the titan of darkness. All things evil." The oracle looked at me. "You've met him already. He gave you that scar." I clutched my shoulder. Ashlynn suddenly noticed my massive tattoo and gaped with both her mouth and her eyes.

"The titan of darkness was the second youngest of Gaia's offspring next to Cronus. Before he discovered his true power, the family of gods was happy and peaceful. There were no quarrels or negative feelings. Once Cronus came along, their father Oranos favoured him more than the others. The only one to feel jealousy was of course, Darkness. How about we call him that? As of that point, the other Titans didn'tthink of him as much. More like a defective child. This made Darkness angry at his family. To exact revenge, he turned Gaia against her husband and made Cronus cut off his ballsack." Shivers went down my spine at that thought. The Oracle chuckled. "This caused chaos amongst the titan family. They didn't realize that Darkness was all behind this. he was very dissapointed when Cronus ended up at the top of the food chain. Cronus was at first a benevolent ruler, but darkness's power was growing. He managed to corrupt Cronus and turn him into a ruthless tyrant. So ruthless and power thirsty that he ate all his children. all of course except for Zeus. Rhea, Cronus's wife was the first to notice what Darkness was doing. So she tricked Cronus into eating a rock instead of Zeus. Zeus was born and raised, aware of Darkness's tricks and mischief. He was the second to learn to resist the evil urge. Then the first Titan war broke out and Darkness sat at the sidelines, absorbing power from all the hatred and chaos. When Zeus finally defeated Cronus, the darkness once again missed his chance to become ruler. But Zeus was aware of Darkness. They began to negotiate a deal to prevent another war between them and a powerful and power hungry titan of Darkness. the end result, was pandoras box. Darkness knew that mortal curiosity would unleash the containts of the box, which were all parts of his soul, but it was not his entire soul. The other part of the deal was that darkness would go into exile. Not from breaking the rules, but so he could sleep in peace and absorb the chaos of the mortals to keep him content. He has slept for millennia, until 29 years ago, when Cronus escaped, unleashing a wave of chaos enough to wake the titan up from his slumber. When he was released, Cronus also made a deal with Darkness despite their rivalry. To urge workers of the gods to his side. Darkness continued to keep a low profile. He was not as strong as he was after the titan war and was not yet ready to challenge Zeus. But he managed to encourage a few of the workers of the gods to Cronus' side like Arachne, many giants, Typhon, and many more. Darkness also had a few goes at the seven heroes. They were resilient to his power, but eventually, he managed to get at one of them..."

"My mother." I finished. The oracle nodded.

"Dear Theresa was weak from the frustration and stress, so Darkness targeted her. She almost destroyed the gods and the universe, she was stopped just in time by your father Jay. When Cronus was defeated in the second Titan war, or the war of New Olympia, Darkness had grown in power. He has been using the weak economy and structure of this city to his advantage. Creating chaos and multiplying his income of it. he is growing, even as we speak. Soon, he will be stong enough to overthrow Zeus and plunge this world into a surface version of tartarus. If life on earth is to survive, you must stop him." His glowing eyes were right at me.

"Me? How the hell am I going to defeat the god of darkness?" I asked, clueless of how to do such a task.

"Herry, if you haven't noticed, you are not a normal person anymore. Your father, as of April, became a god. That makes you-"

"A demigod." I finished. Ashlynn, who of course didn't know until that second that my dad was a god, was rolling everything back in her head, like I did in the cave.

"The first one in many millennia, my boy. There is a reason why demigods are thought of as great heroes. Demigods, have a resistance to darkness's power. It is not make you unstoppable from him, but he does not affect you like he would affect anybody else. That is the reason you escaped that cave with your life."

Ashlynn coughed purposely. The oracle smiled.

"And of course ashlynn. Herry you are favoured by the gods, have loyal friends, and you are the only demigod alive. Only you can stop him."

I stuttered. "B-but, How?"

The oracle shrugged. "Every god has a weakness, a physical object, that can potentially kill them. even Zeus has one, but it is a secret only I know and am not really allowed to tell anyways."

"So what is darkness's horcrux?" asked Ashlynn. I laughed. The two did seem very similar.

"It is the weapon of the man he hates the most." Said the Oracle. "The scythe of Cronus. Made of obsidian and gold. Possesion of the now deceased god of time."

"So, we need to get this scythe and kill him with it?" I asked.

The oracle shook his head. "No, you must destroy it. There is only one place where that can be done. Mount Olympus. Deep within the mountain, there is a chamber of lava where the weapons of the titans were forged. Zeus claimed the mountain to prevent the flow of weapons to the titans. It eventually became their home."

"I see." said ashlynn.

The Oracle spoke on. "Casting the weapon into the lava will destroy it. Not only is it the flaw for Darkness, but the power of Cronus remains within it. Should Cronus regain possesion of it, his powers will return and he will stop at nothing until Mount Olympus is in ruins. And his "horcrux"is not as simple as Darkness's."

"Why are you telling us that?" I asked.

"Because where the hell do you think Cronus' scythe is? It is not in his possesion, but it is with him, in the underworld."

"But that means-"

"YOU will have to go into the underworld and take it."

"But how-"

"That is enough for one night thank you. You two can sleep here fr tonight, but I do know somewhere that you can stay. He handed me a note with an address.

_22 Wallard Street,_

_Brownstone Quarter_

_New Olympia_

I put the paper in my pocket. I looked up, and the old man was gone. I checked the clock, it was late. I decided to lay down on the couch, ready to sleep almost instantly. Ashlynn rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her slender body and she snuggled in closer. At that point, we were both sound asleep.

**You have no idea how long that took to come up with or write, so I expect some opinions on my new addition to greek mythology.**

**Review Plox :)**


	22. Welcome to the crib

**Hey guys, sorry i planned on posting yesterday but i was really pissed off at the rioters in london. I'm not here to rant so lets get back to our beloved story shall we? ;)**

The sun shone into the window of the old room and woke me up. It was around mid morning and the city sounded busy outside. I gently nudged Ashlynn off of my chest so I could get up. She stayed asleep despite the loss of her pillow of muscle walking outside for some fresh air. The oracle was placed at his stool, selling the latest teen magasines to a bunch of teen drama queens. I stood beside him on the very pavement that my dad and the other heroes once stepped on.

"Had a nice sleep?" he asked.

"Its was nice thank you." I replied.

"No it wasn't. The couch was rock solid and Ashlynn was mumbling in her sleep." The man replied. I remebered he knew everything.

"Well, I'm not really in a position to complain am I?"

The old man smiled. "Ha, well at least tonight you will have your own bed. The brownstone has magical borders that will keep anyone, or anything of Mythological descent from harming you. I recommend you two rest up for a few nights. Darkness is growing more powerful, but is a long and slow process. He will not be going anywhere soon. Both of you have come far. You might want to recuperate there."

I nodded. Ashlynn came out of the doorway smiling at me with her messy hair and pretty smile. A sanctuary from ancient greece was very appealing. I told Ashlynnwhat the oracle had just said and well, she seemed ready to sleep for several days. I grabbed my bag from inside and we prepared to take the tripacross town, when I stopped.

"Oracle I have one last question-"

He stopped me from continuing. "The answer you seek is within the brownstone."

Great, I remembered how Cryptic he liked to be. we proceeded, following google maps and the address given. An hour later, we came across an old house with multiple stories. It had a bit of a victorian design. The number was there though. 22. I looked for a keyhole, but there was no sign, only a curcular indent above the handle.

I couldn't seem to figure it out, but ashlynn was rummaging through her backpack and took out the golden pendant that pan gave to her. she gracefully placed the golden pendant into the indent. It matched perfectly. Upon contact, the pendant glowed dimly and the sun dial on it rotated back, the forth. the door unlocked and opened for us. I came back to me. Archies book. The pendants were keys to Mount Olympus. I didn't know it was the key for the brownstone however.

As we entered the room, I expected the place to be full of dust and to be rotting from the inside out. The place was squeakly clean, like someone had cleaned up just for us. Closing the door behind us, I stepped into the living room. It was larger than what I thought it would have been. Easily enough room to satisfy seven teenagers. There were eight bedrooms. Each hero had one then a spare for Athena, I recalled. Ashlynn was quick to choose her mothers bedroom as her choice of rest. She knew it was her because there was still a massive greenpeace poster on the wall. I worked my way from bottom to top. There was room full of computers and books: Odies. The screens would never let me get to sleep. There was another room in the basement. It was visually appealing. The bed was large and there were posters of playboy posers on the walls everywhere. Not to mention a collection of lead weights. But my spidey skills were running on the ceiling of my brain screaming to stay away from this room. There was a feeling of death and emptyness about the room which made me shut the door within seconds of looking in.

The ground floor had no bedrooms besides the spare, and I dared not intrude on the bedroom of the goddess of war. No matter how nice the book depicted her. The floor above had three rooms: The greenpeace room, which Ashlynn had already claimed. next door was a room with a massive, but empty closet and the biggest mirror I had ever seen. there were a few posters of Neil, the egotistic himself. I was not feeling like going to sleep with those posters staring at me, so I moved on. At the end of the hall was a blue room. There was a bed, a counter, and that was it. The room still seemed to have a whiff of axe spray deodorant, and I found a drawer full of love poems. Some of the sappiest things I had ever read. It was funny because I knew who they were all about. I made my way to the final floor which consisted of two rooms and a doorway to the roof.

My senses seemed to like it up here. It was like there was a mental ice cream shop and my mind was craving ice cream. The first room was pale blue. There was a desk full of papers and books. And a massive poster of a sailboat blueprints above it. The room had a sunroof and a woven bench on the side. This was my dad's room for sure. No missing the sailing bleprint. It was the exact same one he had in his study. Being in Toronto, he told me that he had sold the boat, but I think he was lying. He told me of when he went solo across the Atlantic ocean and supposedly fought off a giant squid and an evil witch who loved pigs on his travels. I was always convinced that he made those up. But would he really have sold something that was once upon a time his lifeline? I decided to search further into the desk drawers. he wouldn't mind, seeing that he had not been here for many years.

Sure enough, I found a pair of keys that had a small stuffed seal keychain. Looked like he hadn't sold it after all. But that wasn't all. I found a wierd remote control with only three buttons. Out of pure curiosity, I pressed the big red button. The was the noise of crunching gears, and the bed, the poster, and the bench all flipped into the wall and were replaced with racks of weapons. There were swords, spears, suits of armor, guns, and some more guns. There was also a cased up tuxedo and aviator glasses. Surprised and frightened, I pressed the button again, and they all flipped back to the original furniture. I tucked the remote away, scared that there might have been some bomb hooked up to this place. I found one more thing that caught my eye. A necklace. I pulled it out and sure enough, it was the same type of pendant that Ashlynn had, except for an A, there was a J. Knowing of the peice of jewellery's potential, I took it and put it in my pocket. I decided that this seemed to be the most appropriate room for me. Going downstairs, I found Ashlynn sitting on the couch flipping through channels. She smiled when she saw me come downstairs.

"You know Herry, since we've been together, we haven't really been on a date, have we?"

I laughed. "No we haven't. We've been too busy staying alive."

She smiled. "How about a movie then? The theatre up the road looks a little too beaten up for my taste. But "3 guys, 4 girls, a bucket and an island" is on in a minute.

"Sounds good." I smiled and sat down, relaxed beside her. She leant into my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her waist. It was one awesome movie...

**I decided to have a little fun with this chapter, seeing as this story is so damn depressing at times. Anyways, review and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter of cribs. JK this isn't cribs XD.**


	23. Nobody's invincible

**Hello. Remember me. I didnt actually warn you guys that I was gone in mexico for two weeks.**

**My bad. Anyways, school is now around the corner and I have a heap of work coming my way. I will post the story when I can. But I do not promise it will be frequent or routine like it was this summer. I have the story mapped out. We've come a long way from that room in the hospital but the story is far from over. Lets get to it. I am introducing a few new povs into the story. Just a few.**

**Jay:**

The darkness of the night began lifting as I entered my courtyard. The sun was yet to reveal itself and the air was crisp as a dead leaf. The air was cool and a breeze reflected off of my skin, revealed by the toga. Mount Olympus had come a long way since I was a teenager. The place was no longer a massive room of windowless hallways, isolated from all existence outside. After the second titan war, zeus had the place renovated to become the symbolic look of a city that we all thought of when we thought of heaven. At the peak of the mountain, I looked out past my waist high wall onto the vast valley below. Sheppards had begun their daily work among their sheep and goats, unaware of the great city above them.

I was all by myself. I knew that one day, the armies of the darkness would come. We would have to fight again. But for me, my friends would not be by my side. Only the fearless gods of greek myths. Out there, somewhere, was an evil so great, it kept the gods awake at night. Out there, was the only hope for us.

My son.

I heard footsteps behind me. Graceful and quiet, but strong and distinct. I turned to see a woman who had those traits in more than just her footsteps.

"Its a little early for you to wake up Hera." I greeted her. She remained silent. Her sad eyes told that she was not here for a cup of wine. they reminded me of why I came outside in the first place. I sighed sadly and looked back to the valley, wanting to forget about it.

"I take that you heard." She finally said.

"Heard about it? I felt it the second it happened." I drooped my head, breathing deeply.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be. She's at peace now. She's with Herry, she will feel no more pain."

"So will you tell Herry?" She asked.

"When he gets to sleep, yes." I turned around to see her lecturing eyes pierce through mine.

"I think that this situation requires a bit more of a personal talk. Don't you think. Herry would prefer to hear it from you over the television."

Looking back into space and back to her, I said, "where is he now?"

"On the roof of the brownstone. Where has always been at this time of night the past week.''

I nodded. Hera left as quietly as she arrived and it left me to ponder. I decided that maybe it was time to finally talk to Herry face to face.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry<strong>

The past week was a well deserved break full of sleep and relaxation. Full of movies with Ashlynn and peaceful sleeps. As usual, I went upstairs to the roof to stare at the once mighty skyscrapers. Few lights were on. It was a shame to see such beautiful architecture got to waste. Ashlynn was already asleep downstairs. The time was around 9:00PM.

I was thinking, about how to get to the underworld. There was no way I would find anything about locations of the underworld in the old library. Most of the books had been burned anyways. The only things of use I had found were physics textbooks and encyclopedias in Odies old room. Until I figured out a soloution, we were stuck here.

All of a sudden, there was a glow to the right of me. I turned around to see a growing orb of light. It got bigger and bigger until it formed the shape of a man. When the light faded, I saw my father. He was dressed in a silk white toga. His hair was longer than before. and he looked alot younger. Like my age. He held a short xiphos at his waist and despite his aura like glow, his grim expression was cold as ice.

"D-dad. What are you-"

Stopping me in mid sentence, he began talking. "Herry, I am not here to help you on your questions. I cannot interfere with it. I bring bad news."

I stood, confused that he had come all the way to see me to say stuff that he could in my dreams. "Well, lets hear it."

"Its your mother. They found out she was one of the heroes. The security guards were so outraged at the news, they beat her to death."

He stopped talking to let it soak in. I collapsed into the sitting position I was originally at. Emotions full of despair and sadness engulfed me. Tears fell from my cheeks and onto the gravel at my feet.

"I'm sorry Herry." I was suddenly engulfed with a new emotion: anger.

"You. You're a god. Why didn't you stop them?"

Surprised by my question, he replied. "I don't control fate Herry..."

"So what happened to being an all mighty god huh? She was your wife and you let her die! You killed her."

"Herry, please, just let me-"

I stood up and kicked clean through the wall i was sitting on. "YOURE A MURDERER GO AWAY! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

At that moment, I saw my fathers heart break. I meant everything to him. and from my anger, I pushed him away. Not that I noticed at the time. He stepped back, speechless. Staring at the ground.

"I SAID GO AWAY!" And with that he vanished. I was left alone again with only the sky for company. I curked up against the wall, and cried myself to sleep under a clear but starless sky.

**Lovely start to the next couple of chapters eh? Please review and give your opinion on the whole story so far. See ya all next time. :)**


	24. EURIKA

**Thanks for all the reviews everybody! They are all much appreciated. Keep them up!**

I shouldn't have yelled at my dad like I did. Looking back at it, there really was nothing either of us could have done to stop it. And because of it, I hurt him. In reality, gods are all but invincible. They have feelings, which can prove to be fatal killers in themselves.

I didn't see past my actions until I woke up on the roof. I had slept through a shower of rainfall and I was drenched to the bone. I trudged with squelching steps inside the house. The loss of mom was unbearable. I wanted to think she was still alive. But I was not in a situation to mourn. She was dead, and I would hopefully see her again after I move on from this life. But how soon could that be. It could be decades, it could be tomorrow. I looked at what I was about to face, and realized the true perils that awaited me, and the ones I had surpassed. This journey I was on, could easily be one way.

I entered my room, the dry air comforting my damp skin. A change into clean clothes, and I made my way for some breakfast. Ashlynn was watching the news, she saw me and quickly turned it off. They were obviously telling the world about my mother's death. It is funny how my parents, who were your average people with a dark past, having the media suddenly orbit them like satelites, feeding off any scraps they can get.

"Herry, I have bad news-"

"I know." I replied emotionlessly. " I don't want to discuss it."

Accepting my decision, we sat down and ate a colourful bowl of fruit loops each. I remained fairly silent, and Ashlynn stared at me with sympathy and concern. Finally, I got up.

"I'm going to do more research." Silently, I marched downstairs into Odie's room.

Odie's room was scattered with books and each computer had several windows open. Leftover from the day previous. As I sat down, I could not help but think of my mom. How she died. Compared to her past, it seemed so abrupt and unglorious.

...Her past. That was it!

I sprinted upstairs into my room and grabbed a old book with burnt edges and yellowed paper: The Class of the Titans.

Sprinting back downstairs, I opened the book to Act 4: Mans Worst Enemy. Flipping the pages, I found the quote I was looking for:

_"The three of us hid silently behind the array of plants. Persephone didn't seem to notice us, obviously her mind was on other things, like what sex position she was going to perform on hades that night or something completely lovey dovey like that. It didn't matter. Theresa's theory was right, for with a wave of her hand, the seasons came to life and parted the stone curtain behind them. It revealed a long, dark passageway carved from the earth. The air around us suddenly felt colder and damper. Made sense, it being underground. As Persephone moved through the tunnel we followed her. Theresa and I moved right past the seasons but Jay, being Mr goody goody, stopped to be polite. They slapped him on the ass seductively. Theresa hid a scowl and Jay's face was as red as a beetroot. We kept a distance behind as we followed her silently through the winding passage. The air suddenly changed. It was crisp, but cool. The light at the end opened out into a pasture of tall cedar trees and animals grazing below. In the distance you could see a green river and a dark red land beyond. We all knew that we were approaching the underworld."_

This was just what I needed. An entrance to the underworld to work with. It was within the secret wing of the school, which was IN the city. I opened up an encyclopedia of Greek Mythology and opened up to a chapter on the underworld.

_The people of ancient Greece believed that when they died, they , moved on into the underworld. While they beleived that Olympus was a place that existed spiritually, they believed that hades, the underworld was a physical place._

There was one other thing that popped inmy head after reading the two things. Isaac Newton's theory.

_"Matter cannot be made or destroyed. It can only be changed."_

Days of researching had paid off. I had found an entrance to the underworld. It was right where the gods left it: In the school. Its a part of the underworld and that, being a physical place, they couldn't just get rid of it so they would have just left it there for someone to find it, someone like Ashlyyn and I. I raced upstairs.

"ASHLYNN ASHLYNN. I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"

Scared of my sudden enthousiasm, she jumped out of her skin which was placed comfortably on the couch. I explained to her my theory.

"That is the craziest idea you have ever come up with. You know that?" She said.

"What? You have a better idea?" I asked.

"I think that the gods defy the laws of physics themeslves you know." She commented.

"Or do they?"

"Whatever. So now we have an idea of where it MIGHT be, what now?"

"One thing for it." I said. "It looks like it's time we went back to school."

**Its a short but sweet chapter, hope you enjoyed. Please rate and review! **

**Oh wait, there is no rate. Do you guys think there should be a rating system for ? I think so.**


	25. Abandoning Reason for Madness

**Hola mis amigos y mis amigas! I doubt you understand that but lets skip that and get to work. Its school now. Updates are going to be unpredictable but I will when I have the time. like I do now.**

**Jay:**

The sky of the underworld was dark. The main source of light for Hades did not exist from above, but on its rocky surface where pools of luminous lava and many other liquids rested. And among the black sky, there was a white horse, wings aspread. A shooting star amongst the blackness. Upon him I rode, staring at the vast realm of Hades beneath me.

I approached my destination. The distance shone a mighty castle of stone and flame. Towers springing up from the walls that were tall enough to touch the sky and back. I landed down on a courtyard which grew plants and trees as if it was on the surface world. A man waited for me behind a shadow of marble columns. Stepping down m my steed, he revealed his face to me. Purple and strong.

"The hour is late. The days grow darker even here, and here you are. I trust this must be important." It was not the greeting I expected, but resumed approaching him.

"Lord Hades, my son is coming for the scythe. We need to help him in any way possible." He gave me a small glare.

"You know I dislike it when mortals enter my domain Jay."

"Yes, but I think that under the circumstances, you may permit them to enter without problems." The purple man paused for a moment. I had heard that him and Persephone had been fighting the past few weeks. Despite immortality, he had rings around his eyes and they told a tiresome story. The lord of the underworld paused for a moment. Looking back at me, hands behind his back, he spoke quietly.

"Come inside. We will discuss it there." He was acting quite suspicious, like he was holding back a secret that nobody was meant to know about. But why would he invite me inside if he was hiding something? I followed him into a massive room made from dark stone bricks. The ceiling arched like a perfect semi circle and on the far side was a throne of black marble; the only thing in the room. I followed Hades up until he sat down on his throne, sighing as he did so. I stood, obersving the large room.

"Only one throne." I commented.

"This, was my throne room before I married Persephone. I was quite a different person back then. I liked to isolate myself from reality and think. These past weeks have been the first time in millenia that I have spent time here." I remained silent, awaiting the lords reply to my request. "So he is coming for the Scythe of my father is he?"

"Yes he is. We must get it to him safely while we still have time-"

"Time?" Hades interrupted me abruptly. "What time do we have? Every passing minute Darkness grows and the power of the gods wanes. What time we once had has been lost. You don't possibly think that a mortal could survive the coming trails?"

I was surprised by Hades negativity. It was very unlike him. He was on the most part optimistic and cheerful, and kinda creepy. But not today. I replied to his intergection.

"It was prophecised that he will do this."

"He will, will he? The Oracle did not set his fate in stone. He claimed that he can, not that he will. His prophecy is not as straight forward as yours was Jay. The only reason you ever survived my fathers wrath WAS that you were destined to. It is hopeless to put the whole faith of the universe into a mere teenager."

"All the same Hades, we must try." I replied, aggravated my his aggravation. "Where is the scythe?"

Hades slumped back into his chair. It is hidden, within Cronus' cell. It was form of torture for him. No matter how long he will look for it. He will never find it. It moves around within the walls. It avoids him. If someone were to take it, the seal of his cell would break. It is a complex system that feeds the scythes power away from Cronus and into the defences of the cell."

"Can you not make arrangements for a different type of defence?"

"We could but then Cronus would start getting his strength back. That was how he escaped last time. He gained power from the alignment of the planets via his scythe. I cannot let it happen again."

"If Herry destroys the scythe, he will not be able to regain strength with it."

Hades just shook his head. "He will never make it. Even now the odds stack up against Herry. The great six have escaped from their tartarus inprisonment."

"The who?" I replied quickly.

"Jay you have read the archives of the gods. Even the ones restricted from the eyes of mortals. You know of whom I speak."

I paused, trying to remember the tale of the great six. It came to me. Despair and fear filled my heart and I began to panick.

"When did they escape? WHEN?"

"Two days ago. They were broken out by their mistress, who even now sets them out for her dark deeds. They will search for them, find them, and kill them on sight."

"Herry." I whispered to myself. I turned and sprinted towards the exit of the room. I had to warn Herry. I had to save him. But the fates were not on my side today. The massive metal doors slammed shut by themselves right before I could exit the room, I turned around saw Hades stepping up from his throne and walking slowly towards me.

"We cannot win, Jay. The gods have grown weak, and with the darkness rising in the far west, there will be no victory."

"Let me out Hades." I growled.

Hades stopped walking. 20 feet away from one another. I was pulling at the door, trying to open it, but to no avail. He said "There is only one viable option for survival Jay. We must join him. We must take the side of the darkness. Do not deny me like my wife did."

I stood there. I wanted this to not be real. I blinked. I was still here. Anger and frustration steamed out of me, yet the words I said seemed so calm.

"Tell me, when did the mighty lord of the underworld abandon reason for madness?" Fast as lightning, we both drew our swords and clashed. Using his magic, he launched me into the brick wall, I stumbled up. Fighting went on. We beat each other, cut each other, stabbed each other, eventually he right hooked me. It sent my sword flying out of my hand and knocking me back a few feet. I felt a sting at the side of my head. Checking with my hand, I saw blood. Hades kicked away my sword and pointed his right at me. I noticed blood was trickling down his face as well.

"Can't you see? The power that once made us strong is failing. I gave you a choice to join me but you denied. You have chosen the path of pain." Using his godly powers, he lanched my into the roof and slammed me back on the solid ground.

"I, lord Hades, sentence you to Tartarus, where you will rot over the millenia. Now go and remember the pains of mortality." And with that, I blacked out.

* * *

><p>Far away from the chaos that was erupting below, 7 women sat around a campfire. The place overlooked a cliff where you could see the city of New Olympia and its lights. Six of the women were huge. They had muscles that were thicker than a mans skull and were tall enough to dunk a basketball net without even reaching. They wore fur and clothing made from animal hides. All the same, the clothes exposed their bulging abdominals and muscular legs. Each woman seemed as intimidating as the other. Opposite them was a smaller woman with a hood over her hidden face.<p>

"What is thy bidding, oh Queen?" Asked the largest of the six.

"You must go on a hunt. There are two teenagers within that city. One is a born hunter, and the other is the bloodline of both Jason and the god Jay. The huntress is sharp like an eagle and quick like a viper. The son of Jay is strong and witty. They are on the hunt for something valuable to me. Follow them and when they retrieve this artifact, take it from them and kill them both, Bring me back this artifact but I must warn you, do not underestimate their strength."

"Has our queen found her equal?" The large woman suggested.

The small lady snapped a reply. "No. Not nearly, but you must go now. Dawn is coming and work has to be done."

The six women stood up from their log seats and bowed to the lady. The large woman concluded.

"As you wish, Queen Medea."


	26. Underworld Shenanigans

**Hello everybody. Schools been busy for me and its only into the second week. But I DID make a promise to finish all my stories, so I will persevere! :3**

**The previous chapter seemed to anger some of you a little. But what has been done has been done, like the sins of the past. We can't turn back in time and fix them, we have to deal with them. **

**Enough blabbering, lets hit the story where we left off. Just warning you all, this is a long one. the longest I've ever done. 4000 words. ZOMG**

**Herry:**

Highschools. They're built like bomb shelters. In the Bejing earthquake of 2016, the last building standing in the western end of the city was a highschool. Breaking out of those prisons isn't the difficult part. It's breaking in. Theyre loaded with security cameras and janitors have been known to know more than just a little king fu. I remember in freshman year, I had left my binder at my locker so my dad dropped me off at around 7. I was told to leave the second I stepped into the hallway. I knew what to expect from this highschool. It was approaching midnight. Ashlynn and I were dressed in black with a few gadgets that we had found around the house. We found suits of black spandex and utility belts. I felt like a swat team scout or something.

Looking at a map of the school, I knew there was a back entrance. More subtle than a front entrance. The Janitors closet where the portal once was resided a few corners around it. The plan was in motion, we had to get into that closet. Sneaking around the lights of the football field, we approached the back door. It was dark out. The sky was starless as darkness cloaked the city, physically as well as in spirit. Even still, I could see that the school was very old. The bleachers were rusted and the grass was overgrown. The sports budget must have gone bust for this school years ago. It was unfortunate to see a school which was once fit for the gods to be in such disrepair.

Ashlynn and I were in position. In the dark outside the door. It was time for our plan.

_Alright buddy, go for it._

Somewhere out there, a griffon was munching away on electric cables. The city power began to disappear the instance it happened. Once the school lights went out, we moved onto the door. Being superstrong, the doorhandle gave in to me within half a second. I knew we had exactly one minute to reach the closet before the generator lights went up leaving us in the open. How I knew, well Odie kept the school blueprints in his bedroom. You name it, he had it in his room somewhere. I came across a few playboy magasines on a few of my searches and I MIGHT have flipped through a few pages. Women back then had horrible hairdoos. We ran swiftly and silently around one hallway and throught the next. The closet was around the next corner, but we heard footsteps that were not our own. As quick and silent as ghosts, we clung ourselves to the wall, still hidden in darkness. A grumpy old man walked around the corner completely unaware of our presence.

"Bloody power."He mumbled as he walked past us. Once he was away, we booked it around the corner, but as we turned, Ashlynns shoes screeched against the waxed floor. The janitor stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.

"What the hell was that?"

We had no time to lose. The closet was in sight but there was about five seconds before the janitor man would see us. He was already investigating the screeching noise and was on our tail, following the noise of our footsteps. We approached the old door and yanked at it. It was locked. At that point, the lights went up and the janitor saw us.

"HEY! What are you kids doing here? GET OUT."

I sighed deeply. "I'm really sorry that I have to do this." Taking out of my pocket, was a small but solid flashlight. I whipped it ferociously but carefully at the man. It hit him right between the eyes and knocked him out. Retreiving my flashlight, I knew that other janitors would have heard it and were coming. Behind me, I heard a creaking of the door. Looking behind me, the janitors door was wide open and a smug grin was on Ashlynn's face as she twirled the pendant that Pan gave her around her finger.

"I actually just planned on breaking through the door you know." I said.

"Herry, Herry. Did you know that violence is the first sign of a limited mind?" She chirped. I laughed and we both walked into the closet, shutting the door behind us. The room was dark and small. As described in the book. We were in the right place all right. I found the dangling switch in the middle room. The door locked itself behind us, and as expected, no portal. But instead, the light from the dying bulb revealed a locker. Ashlynn was the first to reach it and as she opened it, I heard her say;

"Herry, you need to see this."

I walked over and sure enough, there was a tunnel entrance. Made completely out of the stone and dirt that made the foundations of the school and it cescended into the blackness below. This was the entrance we were looking for. I took out my flashlight and led the way down the steep decescended so far that we couldnt see the closet behind us anymore. As we moved further in, the air got damper and humid, it felt like hours as we grew more tiresome. We had not slept in a while and when we almost decided to rest in the uncomfortable tunnel of stone. I was not comfortable with that idea after my experience in the Rocky mountains. But in the distance, we saw a faint light. As we moved closer, it became bigger and brighter. Eventually we reached the end of the tunnel into a massive opening of pastures and forests.

In the distance, you could see a faint red land and a bright green river. We were here at last. The air was fresh and crisp and we wanted to collapse from exhaustion. Walking down from the cliffside, we found a corner shaded by a pine tree. It seemed like an ideal place for rest. Ashlynn and I sat down, leaning on the broad trunk of the tree. Ashlynn rested on my chest and I against the tree. AS I drifted to sleep, I wondered if my dad was forgiving enought o pay me a visit in my dreams...

* * *

><p>Nothing. I woke up several hours later after a dreamless sleep. It was unlike my dad to not talk to me at times with such a dire need of guidance. There was a cold breeze about when I woke up, it sent shivers down my spine and into my brain. Something was not right here. Looking around me, the trees appeared to be going red and orange, like it was autumn. September was still a few weeks away at this point. I felt unsafe. I nudged Ashlynn from her deep slumber.<p>

"We need to get going." I whispered to her.

we were on the move within minutes. We both had packed a few snacks to keep us going, but it was going to take all morning to reach that river. We hiked trough pastures that earlier seemed so green, yet now had the colours of a dying land. We were both on edge. Eventually, we reached a ridge that overlooked the green river styx. Beyond, was a land of rocks and crevices. We had made it to the underworld. Out there was tartarus. We had to find the cell of Cronus, and take his scythe.

"Hey, look over there." said Ashlynn pointing to the distance which showed a large mountain, and at the footsteps, I saw what seemed to be tiny little lines of white and grey, but my senses kicked in and it was like I was right up to it. Thousands of white men, clothed in pale chainmail and armor. Each was armed with a weapon. They marched in massive groups. Organised and in ranks. They seemed to be gathering before a cliffside at the foot of the mountain. Where one man, who was clothed ornately was giving them a speech.

"Its an army." said Ashlynn. "They must be gearing up for war against the Darkness."

"I dont think so." I replied." She stared at me in confusion. "Something isnt right here. I've felt uneasy since I woke up."

"Explains why you haven't talked much." She commented. I wasnt in the mood for a laugh.

"I dont think we are welcome here Ashlynn. My dad told me he had great connections with the underworld. So far, I dont think theyre working out. Getting past Cerberus might be a bit more difficult than we thought."

"What are you talking about?" She asked, "You told me that cerberus lets all souls in."

"I'm not talking about getting in." I replied. "I was expecting Hades would let us out giving the circumstances. But I dont think it will work."

"Well its either we go in, or go back." said Ashlynn. "What will it be son of Jay?"

I paused before I said more. Breathing in deeply. I looked at my girlfriends face. She was giving me a very serious look. Her air was a mess, and her eyes were telling a painful story. Our story.

"There is no going back." I mumbled to myself. Ashlynn jumped up with optimism lending out her hand to a lost individual; me.

"The prophecy said you must do this Herry. I you can't do it, no one can." Her words filled me like a luminous blast of courage. I grabbed her hand and she lifted me up over the cliffside and towards the great river. Below, we approached the bank. On cue, an old rotting boat with a single hooded man approached. As he got closer, I noticed he had a black and white silky shirt on and some vintage shoes. They looked old and worn, but I laughed to myself because I knew where they came from. Besides, Charon seemed to pull them off pretty well. Jumping on the boat, we each gave him a couple of coins and he took off to the gates.

On board, there was also and old woman and a young man. The old woman said she had died from cancer and the young man was in a car crash. We simply told them that we were also in a car crash in Idaho. The wouldn't have cared. As we approached the dock, I saw the big three headed guardian of the underworld. I tell you now; no book, however well written could have described this beast in real life. It was the single most terrifying thing I had ever seen. My heart skipped a beat when I first saw him. Cerberus was the size of an overweight whale. He towered over the gate itself with teeth longer than a fully grown man. And we had to get past him later. Wasn't I overjoyed? Giving us a look and a slight growl, he resumed to his duties and let us through along with the other dead souls.

We were in, but the crowd was heading to the hall of judgement. We were not in a position to be sentenced to anywhere. we needed to sneak out of the line with nobody noticing. That was not going to be easy as the place was full of guards with similar dressing to those in the army we saw earlier. We needed a lucky break, and we were nearing the hall mighty quickly. The guards seemed to be looking at us a little funny. We could hear a booming voice within the hall. It was king minos and he sounded mighty grumpy today. He was the last person we wanted to see right now.

we had two choices, sneak out of the line, or get judged. Time was ticking away for us. We were just outside of the hall with less than twenty people in front of us. all of a sudden, a large horn blew and we saw a yellow giant with a director microphone thing yelling out.

"Alright maggots, time to go to war!" It was directed at the guards who instantly began marching away from the lineup. Our chance finally came and we ducked our heads and sneaked in the opposite direction of the guards. After hiding into a crater as the guards moved further away, we knew we were in the clear. We had a long journey to tartarus prison. We began to hike across the bleak wasteland.

We traveled for hours, relying on granola bars and an ever shortening water supply to keep us going. Eventually, we had to stop and rest. We sat down against a large rock and rested for a nap. I stared at the red sky which seemed to be covered by a never ending darkness. It seemed alot like our journey. We get to one finish line, and it starts an even longer track. I wondered what I would have to do next. Find a parralell universe and do the same thing all over again. But even still, even in that dark eternal sky, it had to end somewhere. Everything that begins must end, and one day, this journey will end . For better or worse, it will. There will be a time when even the darkest shadow must pass. Whether it be today, or in millenia, The Darkness will eventually fall, and when the sun shines after, it will shine all the clearer. I remebered Odies words "_Neither of us chose these lives, yet here we are."_ I wished for none of this to happen, but I have been given the weight of the world, and it is my choice what to do with it. And I choose to fight for it.

Getting up again, we began to feel a glow of heat. We were getting close. after another hour of marching, we came across massive hole in the ground. The bottomless pit glowed with green gas which seemed to scream in pain, piercing our ears. above, was the fortress of tartarus. Floating above the hellhole beneath. The only thing connecting it from the mainland, was a wooden rickety bridge. There was no other way across. We stared together at the unsteady bridge. Shoving up the courage, I said;

"I'll go first. Stay close behind me." And holding my breath, I place my foot gently on the first plant. It creaked,but held my weight. Placing my sweaty hands on the robe handles, I began to slowly make it across the bridge. Ashlynn was right at my back.

"Herry, I need to tell you, I don't handle heights well." She murmered. I could hear that her breath was shaky and rapid.

"Just dont look down. You're doing great." I assured her. She exhaled deeply and looked straight ahead. Slowly but surely, we edged across the bridge. The planks creaked but didnt break on us. After an eternity, I made it across safely. Ashlynn was a few steps away from the end. I was reaching out my hand. When she reached for it, the plank beneath her gave way and snapped. She began to fall but she grabbed the rope. She was dangling above a bottomless pit and the ropes werent going to hold for long. I reached out my hand as far as I could.

"Ashlynn, take my hand!" I yelled. Her face was pale and was doing her best not to look down.

"I'm scared to let go." She screamed. She was screaming and hyperventalating.

"Jump for it. I'll catch you." I cried out. The ropes were beginning to split now. She was looking at the ropes then to me.

"REACH!" I yelled. Within a second, she lunged her weight forward and let go just as the rope snapped. Flying through the air, I caught her hand and gripped it as tightly as i could. I pulled her up onto the edge in time to watch the bridge fall into the eternal pit below. Both of us were breathing deeply and she hugged me as tightly as she could. I had never seen Ashlynn show so much weakness. She always seemed to be so tough, but when exposed to her fear, she collapsed. I figured her fear of big heights was like her fathers fear of water. But she managed to overcome it, even after such a close encounter. After a few minutes, we finally got up and went through the large entrance to tartarus.

The cells were locked with their captives in them, but the guards were nowhere to be seen. I figured they had gone to the army. The underworld seemed deserted of guards at this point in time. When the prisoners saw us, they begged us for release. We ignored them as we knew that to get to tartarus, you needed to be so evil and wrongdoing that you would never be redeemed. These prisoners didn't deserve release. And we wern't here to release them. After browsing the levels, we found it. The cell was at the third floor and was one of the few cells that had a window. it was barred and unreachable, but it was still a sign of importance. We found the key on the other side of the hall, hung up where it was left by the guard. we took it and opened the door into the cell, slamming it shut. I knew Cronus was mortal and wouldn't even dare come up against a man who had the strength he once had. The ex-god was stitting in a corner wearing a black tunic. His bare back was to us and mumbled.

"Are you another addition to my punishment?"

"No we're not Cronus." I said in a firm and strong voice. When I spoke, his ears picked up and turned around. His eyes lit up in astonishment and fear. He did nto look the way I expected. He looked surprisingly young with a clean shave and no grey patch on his head. In fact, he looked like some kind of university student.

"Oh god you really ARE!" he stumbled backwards against the corner of his cell. I stood over him, my body was threatening him not to move.

"NO, We are here for your scythe." Cronus began to laugh a little.

"Have fun with that. My son has made that thing move around the cell to keep me from getting it. I gave up on chasing it several years ago." I nodded to Ashlynn and she took over my position as I moved around the wall using my mind to track it. Meanwhile, I heard Cronus speak to Ashlynn.

"You're Atlanta and Archie's child arent you?" He said.

"What makes you think that?" She asked.

"Oh nothing. Maybe the hair, the attitude, and maybe the fact that YOURE POINTING YOUR MOTHERS WEAPON AT MY FACE."

He started babbling about how they were alike and stuff, but meanwhile, I felt the tremors of the scythe within the walls. It moved about very quickly and I waited patiently for the right moment to intercept my path. A few minutes in and I smashed a hole in the brick wall and gripped the obsidian and golden handle withing my fingers. I pulled it out of the wall. Looking at it, it seemed brand new, like it had never seen any action before. It was a beautiful peice of metalwork, but it had this aroma of evil deeds, and power. The two of them were staring at me from across the room.

"Come on Ashlynn, were done here." I said as I walked out of the cell. Ashlynn, keeping an eye on Cronus who remained in his corner, staring at us in contempt and fear. She shut the door and locked it before we moved on.

"So how do we get out of here?" Asked Ashlynn.

"Not the way we came, thats for sure." I said, "Lets check downstairs."

We approached the last floor and sure enough, there was a platform made for some kind of flying device. Too bad there wasn't one there.

"Shit." I muttered. All of a sudden, I felt an urge to look at one of the cells. The closest one to the exit. Looking in it, my jaw dropped.

It was my dad. he was pacing along the room until I caught his eye. Surprised, he rushed over to the door.

"Herry?"

"Dad, its me. How did you get in here?"

"Break out first, talk later." He said. I nodded and Ashlynn unlocked the door. Strolling out, he wiped the dust from his outfit.

"Hades has gone out of his mind. He had turned to the Darkness." He said. "He locked me in here when I came to help you."

"Well looks like we're the ones helping you now." I grinned. "So, do you have anything that could get us off of this island, because we broke the bride on the way here."

My dad muttered "teenagers" under his breath as he rolled his eyes. His eyes lit up suddenly. he ran out to the platform and whistled at a very high pitch. Within a few seconds, a gleaming white thing appeared over the ridge and as it got closer, I realised it was a horse with wings; a pegasus. It landed on the platform.

"We have no time to waste. Let's go." Ushered my dad as we all mounted the beautiful beast. Once we were all on board, the pegasus took off at an incredible speed. The fortress of tartarus quickly became a dot in the distance. However, there were a few other beasts in the air. One harpy caught sight of us and began chasing us. She quickly was gaining on us when Ashlynn quickly drew her crossbow and fired a shot which hit the thing slap band in the wing. As she crashed, other beast noticed the action, but it was too late. We had passed beyond the borders of hades and out of sight. The horse landed outside a tunnel which led to the surface world. Each of us relieved her of her burden by getting off her back. As soon as that happened, my dad ushered some words in ancient greek and the horse took off through the tunnel. My dad looked to us.

"Thank you." He said. "Come, this is the closest we can get to Mount Olympus via the underworld." He led us up the same tunnel Pegasus had flown up. Within minutes, we were breathing fresh air on the surface world. The tunnel opened up onto a land of green fields overlooking a cold Atlantic sea from steep cliffs.

"Where are we?" Asked Ashlynn.

"West Ireland." Said Jay, breathing heavily. I am afraid I cannot stay with you. The enemy is growing and are friends list is running low. There are things that need to be done. War is coming. It will not be long before Darkness reaches these shores, where it will spread until it reaches mount Olympus."

"So this is goodbye?" I asked. My dad looked at me and smiled. "You now carry a heavy burden. The scythe contains all of Cronus' power. It has a will of its own and if you are not careful, it will consume you. You must resist the urge to keep it and use it. It's destruction is the only way we can win this war." He looked back to the steed which awaited his mounting. As he mounted the pegasus, he spoke more. "Be wary, for there are others who are aware of the scythes presence. Six of Medea's finest warriors escaped a few days ago. They are tracking you. Be careful." And with that, he flew off into the setting sun. It was the first time I had spent more than five seconds with him since he disappeared, and now he was gone again. I checked my ipod. It was August 26th. We descended into the underworld on August 23rd. We were in there for three days with close to no food or water. The both of us were collapsing from exhaustion. I sensed a village a little while away. We could recover there.

"Come on Ashlynn," I said, "Lets go."

**That was pretty long. Hope you enjoyed!**


	27. Revenge on the right person

**Hello. posts may become a bit more frequent now that I have my own little laptop to operate from. ;) Lets begin with a brand new POV I don't think you were expecting.**

**Cronus:**

I sat down for a while, pondering about what had just happened. Two teenagers, who seemed like all seven of my ex foes combined. It was spine shivering and resenting to bring the memories of my greatest failure.

After the past 30 years in this cell, I've come to realize how foolish I was. My powers were great and my abilities reformed, but I lacked the right train of thought. I didn't think my plans through, I tried to defy the unavoidable. The kids were young and strong, but lacked the experiences of life which I should have used to my advantage. I was a madman on a quest for blood and revenge, just the way I was in the first Titan war. I shook the negative thoughts out of my head. These past 30 years have changed me more than the other millenia of my life. I think its the mortality. Even in death, I have learned the value of things I never considered before, and how I abused them and how they led to my downfall.

I don't feel the lust for revenge that I once did. I had come to accept this as my fate and endure the consequences I blindly sentenced myself to. At least until those kids showed up. I remember the day before, when a loud horn blasted and all he guards left. It was unusual to see. What could have been so important that all of tartarus to be emptied. It is a miracle that no one has escaped. Then those two brats came along and stole my scythe. I couldn't see how it could help them with thing had a mind of its own and will obey nobody but me.

There was only one other use for it, and at that moment I knew why they had taken it.

Darkness had reawoken. I felt the blood rush to my head in anger. _Darkness._ The only god I would rather see with their head on a plate more than my son Zeus. I loathed the day I made that deal. I promised him a far bargain and he didn't suffice. He used the deal to his advantage by trying to take out me with that bloody Theresa. That was why the prophecy didn't break that day for it was not Theresa who defeated me, but my brother. I cared not for the fate of my son and his kingdom any longer, if The Darkness was to die it would be to die at my hands, not theirs. I strayed back into reality, knowing that I needed to escape in order to get the revenge on the right person this time.

Looking around the room, I noticed a lovely hole made by the offspring of Theresa and Jay. There was no mistaking that heritage, but the fact he broke through four feet of solid brick gave him the intimidating strength of that Herry, of whom I recalled killing. That wasn't important. The important part was that it was right next to the door. So close, the hinge ends were visible in the side of the hole. I approached the hole quietly. If I bashed at the hinge for a little while, the door would fall down with a mere push. Picking up one of the loose bricks, I started bashing away at the hinge.

The hinge was made from Olympian steel. It wasn't going down without a fight. I spent hours, using all the energy I had to seperatethe hinge in two. It was beaten and battered, and all the bricks had been exhausted from overuse. All I had left was once chunk of rock. With one last hammer, the inge finally gave way. It gave out a loud bang that would have been heard by guards if they were still here. But they weren't. With a good kick, the door slammed to the ground.

I was free again, and this time, I was ready to do what I had to do.

**:O. I want to know from you guys, do you prefer long and unfrequent posts or short and frequentish. Please say so in the reviews and I will see you, whenever. :)**


	28. It is a gathering

**I don't know whether its me, or tr reality, but I've noticed that this story has recieved multiple shoutouts and several people have begun to read this story. To be honest, I am very happy that you are all enjoying the story. By the time you reach this chapter, I may have finished o.O. I just want to say this story wouldn't be where it is today, so thank you. :)**

**I also want you to know that I have been thinking of a new plot for a fanfic for this story. It will be another endgame like the Grande Finale but now that I have more writing experience on this site, I feel like I could go above and beyond my other stories maybe even this one. It sure as hell wont be as long as this one. :P But I'm not going to write it unless you guys want to read it, so please et me now how you feel about another endgame fanfic.**

**Jay:**

The day had been long and harsh, but I had acheived what I had set out to do. I was apeak Mount Olympus, staring at my old companions. Odie,Neil, Archie and Atlanta. i found Archie and Atlanta taking refuge in the Northerly wilderness. You couldn't miss it from the smell. Smoked deer. It was a specialty of Athena's that Archie picked up. It didn't matter what kind of animal it was, just smoke over a fire with soggy oak wood and it produced the most amazing smell. It wasnt hard to follow.

I found Neil and Odie in the prison in Edmonton, Alberta. They had been sent a long way for their "crimes". Their faces were dumbstruck when I smashed through the wall aboard Pegasus. The security guards were not very happy that I hadn't gone through security so I had to leave with them rather quickly. anyways, here they were with me now. They all looked old and tired. More so than usual.

"My god, Jay," said Neil. "You haven't aged a day." The blonde guy had his head shaved from being in prison and he almost looked like he had been tortured. Let's leave it with that he looked better during his prime. I smiled back.

"Immortality for you." I looked at their faces stare at m grim expression."Guys, I need to get you up to speed."

I told them everything they needed to know, like the Darkness coming, Hades betraying us, my son being the only hope for the universe, the whole story.

"alright so why did you bring us here?" Asked Atlanta,

"My son can stop Darkness, but not before his armies reach the foot of this mountain. The gods are gathering who they can, what they can, wherever they can. But we fear it will not be enough."

"Then ask the human military for help. Won't they come?" Asked Odie.

I shook my head."Zeus has forbidden us to ask help from them. He doesn't beleive it is their war."

"That's bullshit." The voice of the fading purple haired man stung the voices of ours into silence. "The gods think this planet is theirs and only wrong. This is our planet too. This is everyone's planet. The military WILL come if we ask them to."

Silence filled my courtyard. The sun had disappeared from the horizon and a starry sky replaced the colourful haze of a sunset. we all stared at one another, thinking about what Archie said.

"You're right Archie." I muttered, "but we have no way of reaching the military. Hermes will know if we radio from here, and then he will tell Zeus."

"Then we won't radio them from here." Replied the sly voice of Atlanta, who seemed to be tying her shoelaces already. "How far is the nearest city?"

"Eight miles." I replied, I gave her the lecture glare. "It's too far to run."

"Oh yeah? We'll see. Come on Archie." and before I could say another word, the two were off.

"You know, being together for 28 years, I'm surprised they haven't killed each other." Odie commented. Neil and I laughed. I turned to the two of them.

"Ok, if any of the gods learn about this, we're all toast. So lets keep our lips sealed. The world needs us now. We need to keep it together." They nodded. Even after separating and living our lives, we could continue right where we left off and have each others backs. We lost Theresa and Herry, but we were still a team till death do us apart. Even then, death is never the end.

* * *

><p><strong>Cronus:<strong>

"Of all I'd expect to enter here, you were the last one to expect." He boomed as I approached his domain.

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises brother." I told Darkness. "I pose no threat to you, let me see you in person."

The cloud that blinded the eye of the dreaded cave faded and there stood a man. Skinny in stature, with curly dark hair. He was dressed in all black, like I did. It reminded me the past that I so longed to forget.

"What brings you here, older brother? He demanded. You could see it in his eyes; he was a worm, a coward. He would snake through whatever obstacle to get the other side. I had not seen those eyes in many millenia.

"I want to join you brother, in your quest to conquer Olympus." the sly smile of Darkness appeared. "Yes because that really worked out for you last time didn't it?"

I sighed. I knew he would bring it up. "I was out of my mind then. Blinded by bloodthirst and revenge. I have beared my punishments and have learned from them."I stated truthfully.

Darkness raised his eyebrow, "Indeed, you have changed quite a bit. But want do you want out of this? I know you better than to willingly enslave yourself to me."

I paused for a moment and thought to myself. "I want my scythe back. It will return the power that once was mine. You don't want it in the hands of that boy, and I want my power back. There are no downsides for you. You get an Ally and I get my strength back."

My older brother paced for a moment. He didn't trust me and I didn't trust him. after a while, he stopped. "Fine." We shook hands, not taking our eyes off one another.

I sat down on the rock, taking a granola bar out of my pocket. "I'm sure it will be a pleasure to work with you, _Satin."_

He stopped to turn tome, face purple in rage. "DO NO CALL ME THAT NAME! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT?"

"Its such a shame. Father always like that name and I always thought it suited you."

"Look here _daddy's boy_, I am not the same person I was as a boy. I'm called Darkness now. that is what I am known as. These humans have interpreted my name and completely missused it."

I don't think so. Cold hearted, evil, _jealous_. I see the connections." I smirked.

Satin pointed his finger right at my face. "Look, youre the mortal one here so watch your tongue before I pull it out of your mouth." He stomped away as I laughed to myself and made myself comfortable in the lair of darkness.

**I hope you enjoyed! Please remember to review and stuff!**


	29. Tough Decisions

**Hello! I hope everyone had a great turkey weekend! It was up here in the great white north. ;) Been a while since i posted so lets get to it:**

**Herry:**

The sun was not far from dusk when we approached the village. It seemed to be a small farmers village with a few stores, a pub, and maybe a church. We entered along the main road, which was lined with cobbled fences and old bushes. As we walked along the street, I noticed that the two of us were receiving some very unusual looks from the locals.

"Herry," Ashlynn whispered, "We're still in the commando outfits."

Realizing the fact made me blush. The locals must have been thinking suspiciously of us. Like we were ninja assasins or something.

"I think we will stay here for the night and get a ride out of here in the morning." I said quietly to Ashlynn.

"Ok," she replied, "but where will we go? Where is the entrance to mount olympus?"

I stopped walking. We had walked into a brick wall with no way around. The entrance to mount olympus was not as simple as a hole in the side of the mountain. It was somewhere else in the world. My dad said that we were at the nearest exit from the underworld to it, but where was it?

* * *

><p>We found a place to stay at the pub. It was a Friday night so the people of the town were off of work and relaxing with a few pints. I wished I was that relaxed. I was freaking out about the entrance, and the fact that the bartender didn't check for ID wasn't helping. Ashlynn's attention was to the people around us. There were many loud voices and laughing, and there was a stench of stale beer in the air.<p>

I was running over possibilities of where it might have been but none could work because I didn't have any leadin evidence. I hid my head beneath my arms in frustration. Ashlynn barely noticed.

"That guy over there has been staring at us all night." She said.

"Huh?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. Sure enough, there was a hooded man in the far corner of the pub. He didn't seem very big. It was hard to tell due to his massive cloak. However, despie the fact of his unusual stance and mysterious figure, I didn't feel threatened. My senses were telling me I was in the safe. But Ashlynn looked very nervous. She was uneasy here, I could feel it in her thoughts.

"I think we should go to bed." She muttered I nodded, being tired after several days in hell. I got up and followed Ashlynn up to our room. All of a sudden, as I walked past the bar, I accidentally brushed against a large stocky man who obviously had a few too many to drink,

"Oi, wha' you wan'?"The man barked out. He was in his thirties and had a furry beard. He reminded me of a teddy bear.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean-"

"Bull shite. Lets go right here right now." He bellowed charging me with his fists ready. The thing was, he was way to drunk to stand up.A smurf could have beaten him. I simply stood aside and the man went into a faceplant on the ground. However, as I stood back, he scythe fell on the ground. The crowd stopped laughing at the drunk sod on the ground and stared at it mesmerized. I quickly picked it up and shoved it in my backpack. They suddenly seemed to snap out of the trance that ensnared the room a second before. I met up with Ashlynn who was waiting patiently at the top of the stairwell.

We approached the landing when she pulled me out of the way and behind the wall where we were out of sight, her hand was over my mouth and she was beckoning me to be quiet. Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming from the stairs. She let go of me and I jumped back around the corner. I heard a yelp of a man. Rushing over, aashlynn had the hooded man pinned against the wall.

"Who are you and why are you following us?" She threatened. I stood over beside her. The man's hood was down, revealing a slender face with a winged leather cap.

"Hang on Ashlynn," I said. "This man is not an enemy."

"Herry, Ashlynn, I am Hermes, messenger of the gods." Ashlynn put him down gently. Dusting himself off, he said;

"Nice one back there Herry, but be careful about revealing that scythe to the open." Hermes seemed to be just as I expected him to be. Jolly and cheerful, but with an annoying voice that seemed to break every once in a while.

"I need you two to follow me." He said, looking around cautiously. We followed him to the last room on the right. Where we opened into a large room with a fireplace and a couch, upon which a tall figure was standing before. As the figure came closer, I realised that I recognized it. With graceful strides, the woman came closer to us. she revealed her face to the light. I knew it.

It was Hera.

"It's good to see you two." She greeted.

"H-hera." I stumbled. It was really her. The queen of the gods. i felt like I was in the same room as the president.

"You mean Hera? The queen of the gods?" asked Ashlynn.

"Yes." Hera finished.

"What is the queen of the gods doing out here at the brink of war?" I asked.

"We are gathering forces. There are many giants who reside on this island. We are encouraging them to fight for us over the darkness and Hades. said Hermes.

"And of course, we wanted to meet the one who's fate of the world is bound to." Finished the old woman. "You carry a dangerous weapon, young is running short for you and the journey will only get harder from here on."

"I don't know." I muttered, "It's been pretty hard already." Ashlynn giggled at my comment. It struck me. Maybe the gods knew where to find the entrance to mount Olympus.

"Hera, I need to know; where is the entrance to the forge of Mount Olympus?"

Hera smiled, "It in the land of man's greatest ahievements. Within a monument which stands as a last soldier fighting within the dead legions. Order and discipline made it. And order and discipline have unmade it."

I sighed for a moment. "One sec, what is it with you gods and speaking so cryptically? It would be much easier if you just told us straight out." The room filled wit silence until it was broken by Hermes' chuckle.

"What Hera is saying is, that the entrance is in the coliseum."

The coliseum. I realized that Hera had been talking about the Romans and their achievements. I sighed again.

"Is there no other entrance to the underworld between here and Rome?" The gods shook their head. I paced in frustration. "How the hell am i meant to get to Rome from here?

"Use your griffin." Jeered Hermes. I blushed. I had completely forgotten about Sandy. She was probably waiting all the way in canada for my return.

"Just call her now, and she'll be here within a few hours." The cheerful messenger of the gods said. Something beeped in his pocket. "Sorry guys gotta go. Ares is struggling to convince the centaurs. See ya!"

As soon as he busted out of the door to gods know where, Ashlynn nudged me on the shoulder.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Care to join me?" She asked with the twinkling eyes of hers.

"Give me a few minutes." I said. She kissed me on the cheek unexpectedly and walked out. I touched the place where she had kissed me like I had felt that kiss before.

"You love her, don't you?" Hera said, with a beaming smile.

"With everything I've got." I replied, looking towards the fire. she smiled.

"Your parents were the same you know, as were hers. Those relationships definetly complicated a few things on their way to defeating Cronus."

"What are you getting at?" I asked. The smile on Hera's face diminished with an instant. she looked at me wth eyes that spoke coldly of wisdom.

"The path ahead is unclear for you, but it will face you with pain like you've never known it before." I clutched my shoulder when she spoke of pain.

"If she goes with you, her life may be claimed by darkness. And if that happens, what would you do? If you really love her which you do, you would sacrifice everything to get her back, that means turning your back on the world and letting darkness consume that too. I am like you Herry. I do get glimpses of the future but not complete pictures like the oracle. I have forseen great hardship for you, I do not deny it. Would you risk hurt to the ones close to you?"

I remained silent on the far side of the room. If what she said was true, Ashlynn might die because of me. Because of my destiny and the task I had to perform to save the universe. I wouldn't let that happen.

"I have to do this alone, don't I?"

Hera nodded grimly. "The prophecy stated you would do this. Not two of you, only you. You will have to go on without her, but I cannot make that choice for you."

I sat down and thought. Ashlynn would rather die than leave my side. but I knew that if she came with me, she would die. i was starting to break. The stress, the choices, it was becoming too much. I felt tears appear on my cheeks.

Hera came beside me and comforted me. "I remember a wise man once said; _neither of us chose our lives, yet here we are." _

They were one of Odie's last words to me. I never forgot that quote. Even today I rememeber it like instinct. It made me stop to think. I had come this far. I had to keep going, no matter what, I had to succeed.

I stood up, the tears were drying. I breathed heavily but my voice was confident when I said;

"I know what I have to do."

**Tough decisions. We face them every day. What do you guys think? Plz review and have a great day! :)**


	30. War has begun

A/N: I know, its been a while. My schedule has been crazy recently and there is no end of the tunnel in yadda, lets get to it.

Herry: I couldnt sleep a wink that night. The room was warm and cosy and Ashlynn was asleep across the room, breathing gently which seemed to bring music to my ears. She looked so beautiful even when asleep. And I had to leave was for her own good. I wasn't going to let her die for me. I didnt want anyone to die for was the only way.

So why was it so hard to do?

It was early. Around 4AM. My bag was already packed and ready to go. A slight aroma of purple was faint in the eastern horizon, visible from the window. It was now time. I carefully placed my toes to the ground, the planks creaked, but Ashlynn remained asleep. I slowly placed my shoes on my feet and my bag on my back. as I tip toed to the door, the floor creaked. I stopped still in my tracks. Ashlynn turned to her side, but didn't wake. A sigh of relief came to me as I inched around the door. As I closed it, I was flooded by guilt. She wasnt going to understand why I was doing this. But I had to. It was the only way she could ever be safe. I stood, with my grip on the handle. Breathing deeply and sadly, I let it go and rushed quietly down the hallway. The pub was emptied as I sneaked around the tables. I finally made my way outside where, as planned, Sandy awaited me. I climbed aboard her back. This was my last chance to go back to her. I wanted more than anything else to kiss her and hold her. I hated myself for doing this. For endangering her, for putting her through my perils, to bestow my responsibilities on her. It wasnt right.

And with that, Sandy lifed off the round into the clouds. A tear trickled horizontally across my cheek from the wind, but I kept moving forward. I was going to do this myself. I WOULD succeed. I would find Ashlynn again.

* * *

><p>Cronus:<p>

I stared out of the cave into the valley that expanded all the way north and south. the sun was setting and the red rays turned the blue sky into colours of pink and purple. I was clad in black and gold armor, yet the weapon I bore was little more than a steel axe forged from mortal hands; mine.

Satan stood behind me. His armour more detailed and glorious than mine, but remained with the gold and black colours that spoke of discipline and darkness.

''It is time." He said. I turned to him, his armor was as polished as a brand new window and his helm bore the sign of chaos. "We shall travel as to western Europe where Hades will meet with us. We wil then proceed to Mount Olympus."

"Olympus will put up a strong fight brother," I said "Are you sure you're ready?"

His face went bright pale and his cold eyes didnt blink as they penetrated through me.

"Brother, You're either my ally, or my enemy. Choose wisely." I wasn't in a situation to be an enemy exactly. I sighed and bowed my head.

"Very well then, come with me brother." I followed him winding around the tunnels into a cavern the size of manhattan. We were positioned overlooking an army of millions. Offspring of the darkness that consumed this city. For every sin that happened there, there was a loyal soldier here. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the sheer power and size of this force.

They cheered when they saw the presence of my brother. He quickly settled them down and began speaking.

"Now my children. It is finally time for the rising of the darkness. It is OUR time." They cheered and bellowed war cries louder than an explosion from two feet away. "We march east, then we march more, and more, and then, we go to war!" Satan bellowed. For such a snake, he had quite the deep voice when speaking loudly. I was lost in the immensity of his army. How could human nature breed such a thing?. It was beyond even my imagination.

"Now, my children, let us march!" My brother turned to me as the army began to evapourate out of the room and to the outside world.

"What is your answer little brother?" He asked. Offering his hand to me. I grabbed his hand and we ascended with the army. The war had begun.

Everything was going according to plan.


	31. Lovely day for assassination

**Hooray I have finally taken the time to update this story, which recently has been to reduced to one review per chapter, who is the loyal honeyG. Come on girls and guys, even if you just want to say what you think was cool about the chapter. Review. It lets me know you care. :)**

**Jay:**

I was up all night, waiting for those two to return. As the others slept I strolled my courtyard and reminisenced. memories flooded back that had been left unswept in the corner of my thoughts. Good and bad ones, and ones that didn't provide emotion, just more thoughts. I remembered the team, how strong we became within a mere two days. we developed and changed faster than any normal teenager. Who these days were changing by the hour. Despite the troubles and stresses, they were the best days of my life. We had the weight of the world on our shoulders, but we still went to parties, took a few risks, got grounded by the goddess of war herself. I remember when Odie made that invention that shot red hair dye at Neil. Athena only cared because it was a school night.

Then I remembered Cronus. That crazy look in his eye, his intimidating presence, the scar on his cheek which he had received from my xephos. Becoming a god has made me learn many things about the bodies of the immortals. Such wounds only appear when they are of emotional importance. You learn something new everyday.

Archie and Atlanta were back. I rushed silently to the gates of Olympus and let them in, closing and locking the doors behind them. We sneaked back to my quarters before we said anything.

"So, did you reach them?" I asked.

"Well... sort of." Atlanta replied. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What do you mean "Sort of"? "

"What Atlanta is trying to say is," said Archie, who was still catching his breath, "there were no phones in the town. There was just an old radio in the town hall. We sent a message with morse code, but I'm not sure if it will get through." The old man was showing his age. His declining in hair was showing and where there was once an unmistakable purple, there was bald skin. Neither of those two would have been so tired thirty years ago. It hurt to see the decay of old age in them.

I sighed,"It has to get through. Its just HAS to." I gave the odd couple a look, fatigue was overcoming them. "Come on, get some sleep." I led them into the villa that would provide protection for a few days. Every day, darkness and Hades were coming closer. And when they did, it was going to be more hellish than any battle me, the team, or even Zeus will have ever faced. The fate of everything, was out there somewhere. I the hands of the one thing I desired more than anything to not be involved in this. Herry was out there, inching closer to me did the shadow that followed him.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry<strong>

The rain ridden island was long in my past. Ashlynn with it. I had been traveling for day and night, and day and night. Nothing but a few granola bars to eat and a water bottle for supplements. Then again, Sandy was doing all the work. She had travelled over the Celtic sea, over the larger than it looks country of France, and now we were among the great Alps, somewhere over Switzerland. Italy was anothers days journey, but both me and sandy needed to rest. The descent began slowly untill we were flying between the mighty peaks. The clouds began to render our vision. The wind felt like a breeze after being at such a high altitude for so long.

Thats when I heard it. A whistling sound. It became louder, and louder, and suddenly something jerked sandy to the right. The griffin shrieked in pain and began to descend much faster. She was crashing to the ground. I panicked. _Sandy wake up, wake up!_ I yelled into her head, she didn't reply. We were accelerating to the ground at such an insane speed, I knew that if we hit the ground at this speed, we'd both be ground meat for lunch. In desperacy, I grabbed the limp head of the griffin and yanked it up ward. We managed to get horizontal, but we were still plummeting to our deaths. When the clouds cleared, I saw that we were heading face forward into a mountain side. Great. the one thing i forgot to pack was a parachute. I yanked on Sandy leaning her right of the cliffside and into a massive snowbank several feet deep. I wanted to avoid it, but it was too late. The griffin touched down on the pile of snow and began tumbling though it. Plowing through the sea of solid water. I grabbed onto her back as she rolled over and over and over and over. I threw up from being rolled so many times. Eventually, she began to slow down and after travelling several hundred metres, the broken body grinded to a halt. I was let go of the beast. Blacking out into a face of snow.

* * *

><p>When I came into conciousness, a blizzard had blown in and i shot up at an instant. The motionless bird lay beside me. There were clear grip marks on her side. Obviously where I had been. had I been on her back, i would have been dead. Luck and my super grip had saved my life. But luck didn't spare Sally. I fell to my knees, placing my hand on her rib cage. Every bone in her body was broken. Here eyes, were shut tight. I breathed heavily, holding back tears. Eventually, I collapsed into tears. weeping at the knees of the deceased griffon. but something caught my eye. Upon her chest, broken, but visible, was an arrowhead. I pulled it out. It was what had made the whistling noise. Someone had tried to kill me. They had almost succeeded too. My sadness turned to anger and I grinded up the arrow into many tiny pieces in my hand. There was no other way to let it out, so I screamed at the top of my lungs. Fueled by anger and hatred, I made sure that whoever fired that arrow would feel chills up their spine for hearing it.<p>

After tantrumming for a minute, the cold began to get to me. I hadn't planned on getting stuck in a blizzard and I began to shiver. I needed to find a shelter and let the storm pass, but theweather was too dangerous to wander out and get lost. There was only one shelter in sight: Sandy. I searched desperately for another option, but I found none. I searched my backpack for a blade to slice open the belly. All I had was the scythe. at least i still had that thing. I reluctantly sliced open the belly of the bead griffon. It smelt like someone had anal with a person with diarreah. No, worse. But it was still warm. that was what I needed. Heat. With some self persuasion, I tried to get inside the wet, warm corpse of Sandy. ridiculously unpleseant, but it would do until the storm passed.

**Aint that pretty? Sorry its been so long without an update, Ive been really busy. anyways, REVIEW!**

**-AngryOlympian**


	32. Hell, but not in Hades

**Hi, this isnt really the next chapter but i will spice things up a bit. To spice it up even more I will even use the marvelous font of **_**italics. Enjoy :)**_

_**Sunday, September 30th**_

_**Somewhere near Chicago, Illinois**_

_"Three more hours of work left," I told myself. It had been a long night shift and the sun was beginning to rise. God, I hated night shifts. My name is Sam Hillary and let me tell you, working overnight at a convenience store is painful work. Never work there._

_Its funny, I was expecting the sun to begin rising by now. It was 7pm and cars were on the road to work. The mornings were getting darker by the day and daylight savings was yet to be seen. Despite the coming of winter, the sun should have been up by now. Due to the fact that there were no customers around, I peeped outside to see what was going on. There was a stormcloud. The darkest stormcloud I had ever seen. Blocking out the sun I presumed. I knew there was a storm incoming but it wasnt due for a few hours. Lightning and thunder were rumbling the ground beneath me and I felt uneasy. Its that feeling when you suspect that something bad is going to happen. _

_I stepped further outside into the empty parking lot. The main road outside was jammed solid of looked like there were going to be some late employees to their work today. I could see some of their faces. Many looked frustrated and angry, and some felt the same feeling that I was feeling. My daydreaming stopped when thunder boomed into an earttquake. It rattled everything around be, the trees shook and then all became eerily still. The wind stopped all together anad a shiver went down my spine. It was time to get inside._

_Thats when I heard something. It was an unexplainable echoing roar. I must have been hearing things, until I looked to the road. People started to panick and flee from their cars. Catching my eye to my left, I saw fire. A blazing fire on the road. The noise returned again, louder and closer and combined with the panicked screams of business men and women. The very nose shook up the ground more than the thunder and I lost my balance. I staggered back up to see a shape fly over me. Looking at downtown brought a scream from my mouth. The iconic skyscrapers of Chicago were in flames as if the apocalypse had arrived. In fact, I think the apocalypse had arrived. Everyone around me was fleeing from the shape which landed on the ground before me. _

_The breath was hot and smelled like rotten flesh as it traveled through my nostrils. It's shadow loomed over me like a giant. The pavement at it's feet was cracked from the immense weight. Then there was the shape itself. Scales stronger than steel lined its skin in a majestic pattern. They flowed from head to tail and upon the crest of the head were black, shiny horns. Eight of them with the two on the outside taller. There were massive wings the size of with a deadly hook at the fulcrum of it's arm. The creatures face was long and scaly. The snout was the size of me and the jawline was equipped with countless weapons of bone._

_At last I looked up from the beast to it's rider. It was a slender young man. He was equipped in medival armor and had a sly grin in his face. Then his beady yellow eyes looked at me and deprived me of courage and honour._

_They were the last thing I ever saw._


	33. A warm welcome

**Sorry I havent been posting.I've been playing Skyrim. ALOT of skyrim. I have noticed that the majority of readers have disppeared. I dont know whether its the time of year or that this story is running on a bit long. It doesnt matter. This story has an ending and it is approaching. Those who have had the time and commitment to keep up, I guarantee you won't be dissapointed. :) Onwards.**

**Herry:**

The skies eventually cleared and I began my descent down the alpine mountain. I remembered when my dad told me about his trip with my mother skiing during highschool. He told us of this insane story of getting lost in a maze of caves and nearly losing each member almost twice. Sounded like he got lucky. Of course, I knew better now than to beleive he was just lucky. The alpines were well known for their skiing. I wondered if any of those mountains were the setting of the tale of the scary skiing.

The valley below was dotted with farms and a small dirt road though the middle. Not ideal, but it sure was a hell of a lot warmer than the peaks that towered like mighty giants above me. It didnt take long for me to find a hitch iking ride onto a farm truck. The people spoke italian, which didnt help. But I gathered that, via single words and many hand gestures, they were heading towards Milan for vacation. What were the odds? A large city would be easy for me to find a quick ride to Rome. I had miscalculated my position. I crashlanded much further south than I expected. I had thought that I was in Switzerland. In reality, I was a mere two hours from the fashion central city of Milan.

When I reached the city, I noticed the heavy layer of smog and the sea of factories where a few not very tall skyscrapers arose. I was expecting something a little more spectacular, but I would settle. The farmers dropped me off at a tourist centre where I dropped off a few coins for a italian handbook and directions to the train station. My journey was very simple, unlike many of my previous quests. It seemed too good to be true.

It was.

As I waited for the train to Rome. I felt that something bad was coming. I knew better than to ignore it. I sensed danger. I decided that a trip to the bathroom would keep me a little safer. Better than being in the open, right/

Wrong.

As I stared at myself in the mirror, I noticed all the stalls were used. right on cue, the one right behind me flung open. My senses forced me into a duck and thank zeus for that. Because a heavy steel axe hurled right where my head was. From out of each stall burst a six foot tall woman looking like they had come from the caveman age. They began to advance towards me with the intention of killing, I had a few options; 1) Make a run for the door. They would be less willing to attack me in front of several hundred people. it seemed practical. 2) Do the usual beat the shite out of them. Traditional, but challenging. These women looked very tough. It would take a few more than few punches to stop them. 3) Do what they do in the movies and go kung fu with the axe that was wedged into the mirror beside me. It was a ridiculous idea, as I had no experience with a weapon. So which option did I choose might you ask?

I chose the third option. With a lighting fast arm, I grabbed the axe and swinged it in a warning for them to stay away. One of the big women laughed at me and had a shot at me with her six foot long sword. I tried to block it with the axe handle, the sword cut through the axe like butter. Staring at the two pieces in shock. I threw option number three out of the window. Option one seemed like the only option. I booked it as fast as could out of those doors. Unfortunately, the amazonian bloodthirsty cave women were still chasing me . The chase got the attention on people in the area and they began to scatter like ants. Wise choice because these ladies were barging though anything and anyone to get to me. I made a run for the station where my train was departing in a few minutes. I glanced back as I stepped into the carriage, those amazonians were still at my heels. Sitting down wasnt going to be a pleasure I would have during this trip.

The ladies chased me from the front of the train to the back. i would have been flattered if they weren't, well you know, TRYING TO KILL ME. As I reached the dead end of the last carriage, I made a split second decision to hit the roof. The train was moving out of the station and was accelerating to a pretty fast speed. I was waiting for the ladies to come out from the trapdoors. But they didnt need to worry about doors. Right in front of me one of them burst through the roof. She lunged at me but she would soon regret that as I right hooked her right to the cheek, knocking her off of the train. the other two were appearing in two new holes in front of me. I turned and ran towards the front end of the train. they followed me in hot pursuit. I ran and jumped over the gaps in the carraiges until I reached the front of the train. The two women were staring me down from a few feet away.I turned to them and said;

"What do you want from me?"

The bigger one said, "Our Queen wants you dead."

Medea. Of course. Who else would have an army of amazonian bodybuilders at her command? I was between a rock and a hard place. I had no weapons, no breath, and no plan.

then I remebered, I DID have a weapon, I reached for the scythe in my backpack and unsheathed it.

"You want me dead? Well, come at me."

The two women charged at me ready to strike. I charged in return. The smaller woman gave the first swing. I ducked and swung at her, she blocked it, what she didnt expect was when Ihooker her weapin towards me and headbutted her right between the eyes. She went out like a lightbulb and collapsed off of the train. Now it was the bigger one, with her blonde mohawk and rippling muscles. She must have scared all the men away from her. Who would want to sleep with that?

Unfortunately, she was smarter than she looked and when I blocked her, she surprised me with second dagger and sliced me on the my scythe arm. My block gave way and she knocked me to the ground. As she prepared to deliver the final blow, she looked up in horror as a bridge came out of nowhere and planted her face in the wall. As the bridge passed, I picked up the scythe and looked around. Fate had saved me this time. I had to be more careful. I now knew that I was a wanted man. And this time I didn't have redhaired companion to save my ass.

**I plan to post a little more during the holidays to finally finish this story after almost 6 months. See you all then. :)**


	34. Passing the Torch

**I'm not gonna lie, this is one of the best chapters I have written in a long time. If I keep this up, I may get close to finishing before winter break ends. :O**

**Jay:**

The days were getting shorter. Each sunset was a few minutes earlier than the previous day. The longer nights brought a chilling cold from the west. Unnatural for this time of year. It was no mystery that darkness was edging towards the mountain of the gods. The past few days had brought many beasts and creatures to the great city, which was becoming more like a castle day by day. Satyrs, centaurs, cyclops, minotaurs, and countless beasts that have been lost in the pages of time. The gods themselves, were rarely seen. Hephaestus was working around the clock at his forge, forging weapons and armor for the new additions to the armies. Hermes and many of the other gods were fetching recruits while Athena and ares trained them to the best of their strength. Zeus had remained in his house since the commotion started. Rumours was that he was becoming weaker, only Hera was allowed see him.

You would find more cheer in a graveyard. Walking in the streets of Olympus, you could smell the fear. Nobody smiled, nobody stopped to talk to you. People just went about their business. We were weak, unprepared, and demoralized. If Darkness were to attack us at that day, we would not last a minute.

And then there was us. The five companions. It seemed like we were the only ones with our heads screwed on straight. It seemed so, in reality, we kept our heads high with the false sense of hope that maybe Herry would make it to the the chamber many thousands of feet beneath us; the Heart of the World. But hope seemed dim. It had been a long time since I had seen him and the odds were stacked against him. Hope, was all we really could do.

As the sun set beneath the west once again,I returned to my manor where I faced my four friends, each had a tired look on their face. Their eyes told stories of pain and endurance. They were stories that I had witnessed as their companion and leader. I closed the door silently behind me as they faced me.

"Jay," began Atlanta "we need to talk."

I gave an insecure nod and we all sat down. Odie began to talk.

"If this keeps going the way it is, there is no chance of victory. We need to see Zeus."

"That is beyond my power to allow." I said. "He has forbidden any to enter his chamber."

Atlanta smiled "We know, that's why we're not asking. We have organised it for you to get inside his chamber tonight."

I gave them a confused look. "Me? Why me?"

"Because you're the one he trusts the most. If something is up, he'll tell you. At lest he's more likely to. Besides, he can't do anything to you. The time is too near for him to banish. He needs you. But you need him. We all do. Without Zeus, we're doomed."

I stared out the window for a moment. "Alright," I said, "I'll do it."

We were atop the roof of the High God's chamber. A window had been delicately opened with thanks to Odie. I slid down the rope silently into the corridor below. The place was as empty as an abandoned warehouse. The air was cold and the only form of light was the bright moon above. I walked carefully and cautiously to the main hall. The hall had retained it's spherical shape with an enchanted floor which illustrated the world as it was at that moment. You could see The entire of North America was shrouded in a pitch black cloud, which was moving across the atlantic ocean. The entire Americas. What was beneath the dark cloud, was too late to undo. It was gone. All of it. This, I knew in my heart. My friends, my family, their families and friends. The underworld would be full tonight.

My eyes looked to the Pacific ocean. The cloud was spreading there too, towards Asia. The war was coming, and it come to us on both fronts. This was grim news. At long last, I laid eyes on Zeus. He looked extremely frail. Like an old man on the verge of his destiny. He lay slouched on his throne. You could have thought he was dead. As i approached him however, he muttered.

"It is a grim sight, isn't it Jay?" He moved his head to look me in the eye. He looked a complete mess. His head had become sparse with hair and his eyes had a sore look, but his grin was still warm.

"Lord Zeus," I stuttered, falling to my knee, "You look unwell."

The old man sighed. "My power is failing, Jay. The power of men, is failing. As Darkness spreads across the planet, the once great civilizations fall apart. You see Jay, my life force is not a specific object. It is the unision and strength of the mortal kind. As mankind dies, so do I. It will not be long before my life force is consumed, and I will fade from this world."

I looked into the poor man's eyes. I searched for the lie that I so desired to see. I didn't want it to be true. I placed my hand on his cold cheek.

"Please Zeus, no. We need you right now." Tears were welling up in my eyes as I despaired the thought of losing the one man who was like a father to me when I was parted from my real one. It was this Zeus who was the one who gave mankind greatness, who gave us power and voice, and now he was dying, like the rest of mankind. As I fell into tears upon his shoulder, he comforted me.

"Do not grieve for me Jay. I cannot lead this war. I entrust this to you. Once again, the fate of the world rests in the palm of your hands."

"What should I do?" I asked as the tears on my cheeks went stale.

"Each day, your son brings the scythe of Cronus closer to the Heart of the World. Victory will only be achieved if he succeeds. You need to give him time." Zeus started to look a little more tired and took a breather. I turned to the floor. The black cloud over the pacific had just touched down in Japan. Looking back to Zeus, he looked to me.

"Within a few minutes, I will lose the life force to speak, Jay. Give me your hand." I willing laid out my hand to him. He gently lifted the amulet from his neck and placed it in my hand. It was a small, circular amulet made from gold with a lightning bolt made purely from diamond.

"With this amulet, I pass to you the power to lead the army of Olympus. Wear this, and the strongest of the gods will fight for you. With this, I pass to you the burden of the world. I trust this to you Jay. I always knew, since the first time I laid eyes on your ancestor Jason, that your bloodline would change the fate of the world."

I held the amulet in my hands. "I promise you this Zeus, as long as I have any air in my lungs, as long as I have blood in my veins, I will never let the City of the Gods fall. Nor shall I let the world fall into darkness." The old man smiled and looked to the east. I saw his eyes fade out of thought and time. His grip relaxed. Despite the time of despair, he seemed to be at peace. He was not gone completely, but I knew that his concious had passed away into a far away land, far from the horrors of this world.

At last, I arose from the motionless body of the once mighty god Zeus. I walked from the throne with the amulet of Zeus upon my breast. The doors opened up before me, and stood in front of me was Hera. Her expression was full of surprise and anger.

"Jay, what is the meaning of this?"

"Hera, I am afraid that Zeus, has..." My words faded from my mouth for a moment.

Hera looked at me impatiently, "Has what?"

I looked down,avoiding her eye contact, "Moved on." I replied humbly.

Her expression faded from the anger to despair as she rushed to the body of her husband. She pressed her fair hand against his cheek. At that, she burst into tears, mourning the loss of of her husband. It was the first true family she had ever lost. Gods were meant to live forever. I knew that she was expecting him to be there forever with her forever, but she now knew that sometimes, fate chooses another path. She looked to me, then the amulet.

"Zeus gave you that, didn't he?" she said struggling through her sobs. I simply nodded.

She took a deep breath, "If he trusted you to lead us to war, then so will I. The gods of Olympus are at your command. But please, I would like some privacy for the time being."

I nodded and took my leave from the throne room to leave the old woman to mourn in peace.

I walked solemly outside. The sun was slowly rising and a chill was still settled in the air. I approached the others who were anxious for information.

"So what is the story?" asked Atlanta.

I took a deep sigh. "Zeus, is not with us anymore."

"What?" barked Neil. I explained to them about my experience with Zeus in his dying moments. And how he gave me the amulet. The room went quiet once I had finished telling the story. Atlanta and Odie had a tear in her eye. Archie had an expressionless face looking out the window, and Neil head was toward the ground.

"Now what?" Archie spoke up. "Zeus is gone. Hope seems to be all but gone now."

I walked up to Archie and clasped his shoulder. "Not if we maintain our bonds of fellowship." He looked up to me and smiled. He clasped my arm as a mutual understanding. The others joined in.

"It is up to us now," I said, "We will overcome this enemy. If not for Zeus, then we will do it for one another, and our friends who await us in Elysium fields. There is still hope."


	35. City in flames

**ZOMG 2 Reviews! Thats the most in ONA YEEEEEEEEEE.**

**Haha jk but seriously, keep up the reviews. I think if we can kep it up the story can get 100 reviews. Can we do that?**

**Herry:**

The train to Rome, luckily was rather uneventful. I caught up on much needed sleep and ate enough food to keep me going for at least a few days. It was a six hour journey to Rome. In that time, I did alot of thinking. In particular about Ashlynn. I wondered if how she reacted to see me gone. Would she have just gone home? I hoped so. I didnt want her to come to harm. I had caused her enough pain already. Eventually, I wandered into a deep sleep again. I dreamt of something mighty unusual.

I walked upon a roof of a skyscraper. The sky was pitch black and heavy rain fell from the oblivion above. Cronus was there. A look of fear, yet menace in his eye. He was cornered by the seven heroes. I knew this part of the story from Archies book. Yet, it felt different to what what was in the book. The seven teenagers looked glorious. Clad in olympic bronze and steel, they had chased Cronus from the fires of battle below to the rooftop. The team was shouting franticly as Atlanta drew her bow and shot the mortalizing arrow. I wanted to join them in this fight against, but I knew I was little more than a viewer of the memory. I felt the blood run from my face as I saw the arrow pierce the thigh of the big man of whom I was named after. I realised at that moment, that in reality, I may have been in many brawls, but never, had I actually killed someone. Despite the many who have tried to kill me, my hands were clean. When I saw the blood soak the clothes and accumulate on the ground. I realized that I was watching man's last moments in this realm. Shivers went down my spine. I wanted to look away, yet my eyes could not move from the scene. The heroes fought on valiantly but the immortality of the god proved to be too much. Eventually, as Jay lay seemingly doomed at the feet of Cronus, Herry was the one to save the day. In his last breath, he jabbed the arrow from him to Cronus. Despite the fact that I knew the story, my heart was pounding like it was in the present and it was still anyones game. And so the bloodiest and most glorious fight between two mortal men took place before my eyes. I stood, stunned by my dad. Armed with just a sword, his form was flawless, like lightning, the scythe and sword clashed like thunder and lightning. Eventually, Cronus got Jay to the ground and made te mistake of raising his weapon. The sword went through his gut like butter. As Jay got up and performed the finishing blow, the rain cleared and the moonlight lit up the place like a lightbulb. The body of Cronus fell off the skyscraper, where I came across him in an early dream. My dad dropped his sword to mourn the loss of Herry. As they all crowded around him, I felt honoured to be named after such a hero. A fighter to the last breath. Then it hit me. I had a funny feeling that I would have to suffer a similiar fate. Not the arrow and poison, but the fighting until I die part. The dangers were escalating as i got closer to my final destination. My foes were becoming stronger, and yet, the fatigue of this journey was starting to get to me. I was getting weaker. I hadn't been really relaxed since before my father went to hospital. It seemed so distant and fading a memory; peace. I was at the stage now, that all I wanted to do was find a quiet corner of the world and spend my days in peace. It seemed like an impossibility at the moment. But if I succeeded i this quest, I would fun Ashlynn and find that peace, wherever it may be. But for now, one thing mattered; the scythe had to be destroyed. Otherwise, nobody will find peace. If my dad could defeat a god, so could I.

The train had stopped at Rome. The sun was in the west, the sky was fading into a pink or purple haze. Using a map, I made my way to the Colosseum. By the time I reached it, it was supposedly closed, but it would take more than a few chain link fences to stop a demigod. I made my way into the middle of the bridge where the courtyard once stood. Something was wrong. It was eerily quiet. The stars were beginning to appear. I realized that the entrance could be anywhere in this maze of ancient corridors.

My thoughts were interupted by a massive explosion. I could see a massive red beam of light from up in the city somewhere. My senses told me it was at the vatican. I had a vision; It was the vatican courtyard. A massive hole burst open from the ground, and from it poured out demonic creatures. I recognized the skeletal type ones. It was Hades' army. He had opened a new entrance to the underworld and was going to unleash hell into the streets of Rome. I needed to find that entrance fast. In a matter of minutes, the colosseum was about to be crawling with demons and beasts. I followed my senses into the maze below me. It eventually led me to a dead end. I began to panick as I heard the sounds of hell approached the Colosseum. Then my eye caught something. There was something in the sand beneath me. I dug out to investigate. It wasnt the entrance, but a roman gladius and shield. Surprisingly sharp and well preserved. Seemed like my telekinisis was smarter than me sometimes. I grabbed them and turned around. A skeleton creature was slowly approaching me with a shield and sword. I recalled my dad's form in my dream. Left side forward, right side support. I attempted to recreate it. I was not nearly as elegant as my dad, but it seemed to deflect the skeletons first blow. I thrust my shield right into him and the skeleton collapsed on the ground. It immediately began to repair it self. I made a run for it. I was senseing some kind of entrance now. It wasn't far. I began to run and through the corners to find it. At one point, I stopped myself to face around eight skeleton creatures. I began to run from them, yet try to keep my direction correct. Not as easy as it sounds. Eventually, I came across a long, straight corridor. The entrance was at the very end, I could sense the came entrance. I started sprinting for it, but the monsters were gaining me. They were going to get me. I had to stop and fight them off. I bashed and bashed away. Cut and sliced, but their numbers were too much. I seemed doomed.

Then, out of the sky, jumped a dark figure down on top of them. Cloaked in black, the mysterious figure took the skellies by surprise and made short work of them. It looked at me and pointed towards the cave. I didnt hesitate. The sky above us had gone red with the flame of the burning city and the skeletons were getting reinforcments. The mysterious figure and I ran for it and made it into the cave. Once we were in, I bashed the wall with my fist, causing a cave in at the entrance, stopping the skeletons from entering and stopping us from our exit. Then again, It wasn't like we wanted to go back there. After catching my breath, I looked to the mysterious figure.

"Thanks, but I should go alone from here."

As I walked away awkwardly, the figure grabbed me by the collar. In a firm, yet hurt voice, it said.

"No. Youre not walking from me again."

I knew that voice...

**Remember, everytime you dont review, a part of me dies. DONT LET ME DIE**


	36. The Storm is Approaching

**Awww yeah IM BACK BABY. I actually checked the traffic stats on my story. Turns outthe number of viewerst hasn't actually gone down that much after all. My bad :S**

Herry:

The mysterious hooded figure unveiled the cloak to reveal long, scarlet hair. And before my brain his the fact of who it was, Ashlynn lunged at me with the fiercest grip I had ever experienced. After locking eye contact for a moment, she slapped me. I probably deserved it.

"Thats what you get for leaving me, no matter how helpful you were trying to be." She looked like she was about to cry. "Don't you get it? I'm in this with you wether you want me or not."

I sighed, "Look, the only reason I left you behind was because I didn't want to bring you to harm. I have doubts wether even I'll come out of this alive."

"I dont care I if I die here. I want to be with you." Her voice suddenly became faint and quiet. "I love you Herry."

The cave went silent. Those words were ones I never thought I would ever hear. Once I left her, knew I loved her. Thats why I left her. All I could do at that moment, was smile.

After a deep breath, "I love everything about you Ashlynn." My mind started to go blurry, but I recalled us finally locking lips in a graceful, yet vigorous manner. I don't know how long we made out in that tunnel, but it was the happiest moment of my life.

After a long while had passed, our lips parted. I looked at her.

"Come on, let's finish this."

And so we moved on through the dark, long tunnel to the fires of Mount Olympus. We had no light, no food, and only the water that dripped from the ceiling. I didn't know how long it would take us to reach the end, but we would succeed. I had Ashlynn with me, that gave me hope. Hope that we would make it. This tunnel would be beyond the most dangerous of challenges we had faced up to this moment. Time was now of the essence, and I had a feeling that there was some one, or something, waiting for us.

Jay:

Scouts had informed me that Italy had been overrun by the army of Hades. All of civilization was in flames. The armies of darkness were less that three days away. Even still, beasts and creatures poured into the city to help take up arms against the coming storm, but I felt that it would not be enough. The army of Olympus was now about 5000 strong. They were strong, brave, and loyal to Zeus. I wasn't sure about their loyalty now that Zeus was gone. But the gods were behind me. If the army wouldn't keep my back, they would. The plan was still simple. Most of the gods were recruiting in more local areas, while heph was forging nonstop and the war gods were doing what they could to get the soldiers ready.

It reminded me of when we finally defeated Cronus. Except this didn't seem as hopeful. All that mattered then was defeating Cronus. Now, the victory is out of our hands. If Herry doesnt destroy the scythe in time, we would fall. And darkness would rise from a lifeless wasteland. Nothing would regrow. All that would be left was to make use of the gods, imprisoned and made into slave labour. That wasn't going to happen. Not on my watch. We would succeed, we would rebuild.

My thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the gates and several hundred additional beasts and creatures entered, heading straight to the armory. Behind them following, was Hermes. He flew right up to me from the ridge which overlooked the main courtyard and entrance. The meesenger god looked weary.

"I dont think that it is safe to start recruiting out there any more.: He said, "the scouts of the enemy are everywhere and the time is too nigh to train them much."

"So this is it then." I said, looking at the bustling courtyard. Hermes nodded, "very well. Double the night watches, and train them quickly. The storm is coming Hermes. It is best that we are ready when it comes."

**Not my best work but I'm trying to get as much done before school recommences. And trust me. Its about to get good.**


	37. Back to the roots

**School starts monday, after that point I wont be sure when the next update will be. Regardless, I am thankful of the impressive number of reviews recently. Over this holiday, I feel that we acomplished alot. The next and final chapters will need to be carefully written and make sure they tie up the end perfectly. Which will of course will take time. Anyways, let us begin. **

**Jay:**

Over the fext few days. I had met with the fellow commanders to review strategies and placements of the freshly minted army. There were many familiar faces there, including Chiron, Pan, and many others. the result, was a tightly packed and sealed perimeter of stone and bronze and flesh. the ultimate area of protection was the throne room. it was the HQ. The plan was basic; hold them back until they push us back and kill every last man, beast, or creature. The armies of mortals however, were not heard from. Judging by what Darkness had done to the world, it wasn't much of a surprise.

I arose from what may be my final sleep. It was still early. The sun had not risen, and the night sky was dark and starless. The only form of light came from a waning moon, approaching a new phase. It was like the light of the world had been drained away. It felt so more than just in the sky. I felt it in my gut. There was little to be happy for these days. There was a stale smell of fear in the air. A smell, unfortunately, I was familiar with.

I decided to go for a walk in my courtyard. The sound of the trickling water soothed my nerves. It also made me want to go to the bathroom. But as I turned the corner towards the desired lavatory, \i bumped into someone I was not expecting at this hour.

Archie. He was leaning against the marble fence and staring into the mind was somewhere else. I recalled many years ago when we still all lived together, I went to tell Archie to get the shower before Neil did when i found him sitting in the middle of his room, looking out the window in the same, expressionless face. He hadn't changed that much at all. He was still the energetic teenager I remembered, he just got older.

"When do you think they will be here?" Archie asked, keeeping his same expression, not moving his head.

"They could be anytime between now and midnight." I replied.

"Theresa would have known." Archie muttered, "Times like these, I miss her."

"No kidding." I said as I joined him in staring into the mountains. The conversation went quiet. What would usually appear awkward felt peaceful between us. I guess when you know someone your whole life, it doesnt matter.

"I'm ready to die, you know." He said. The words had taken me by surprise.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously. "You still have your family here. Your wife, your kids, well, besides Ashlynn of course."

"I'm not sure if Ashlynn is even alive anymore. But if she is, it is sure as hell safer than here." his gaze turned to me. "We cannot win this Jay. It is but hopeless."

"The goal isn't to win here Archie. The goal is to hold them back and give Herry enough time."

"Jay, herry could be dead for all we know." Archies voice began to raise. His temper was beginning to break. Unfortunately, so was mine.

"He's not dead. he's alive, I know it."

"How? You havent heard from him or spoke from him in gods know how long. 90 percent of the world is like a nuclear wasteland and you expect me to beleive that he is still alive, one of the 0.1 percent of life on earth?"

"Yes. I do want you to beleive in it. Because if you don't what else is there to beleive in?" The voices were rising between us now.

"I gave up believing in anything a long time ago Jay. Just because you have some false sense of hope doesnt mean I have to follow it!"

"Then what will you do Archie?" I bellowed, "You have a family! Is that not something worth fighting for? You dont even know what it's like to truly lose someone do you."

"Shut up." He said quietly. I continued.

"If you cannot find the will to defend your own family, what then. You will lose them Archie, and I warn you that it will-"

My words were stopped as he punched me right in the chin. I stumbled back, stunned. I looked at his eyes, they were full of many emotions, regret, anger, pain. The shock of the fact that he had hit me was having us breath deeply. Archie sniffled.

"Dont give me that." He said,his eyes were tearing up. "We both know the feeling of losing someone close, or have you forgotten?"

As if he was manipulating my thoughts, the memory appeared. Fighting Cronus, losing Herry. The emotions that were felt that night felt like they were bursting into reality. However, when I came back to see Archies face, those emotions were upon him. We were both still breathing deeply. Silence overcame us.

"I'm sorry." said Archie, "I dont know what came over me."

"No, I'm sorry Archie." i replied. 'You were right. I had forgotten. Forgotten that you guys suffered as much as i have. Forgotten who really won the war of New Olympia. It was not just you or me. It was all of us. Together, we won. Even if we weren't all there in the end. And even now, theyre with us. Theresa and Herry. They await us in Elysium fields." I paused for a moment. "But Archie, if you dont beleive in something,then they will have died in vain. If you don't beleive in fighting for something, we might as well have let Cronus win in the first place. That 0.1 percent, that can recover, archie. Let us give it that chance. Let your children have that chance." The silence filled the courtyard. the sun was above the mountains now and the light rays of warmth were felt on the goosebumps on our arms.

"I see them in my dreams, Jay." He mumbled, looking up at me. "They call for me, the say "welcome home". I feel that, even if all falls here, we will find our way home." His eyes found that ferocious confidence that I hadn't seen in him for years. "You're right jay. he is alive, and she is with him. My heart tells me so." A smile formed from cheek to cheek,

"There may be hope after all."


	38. It begins

**This will be the last update before I plunge right into my exams, I can guarantee that I will not have time to give this story much attention until February, but once theyre gone I WILL complete this story. and whover noted that Pan was a bad babysitter, he didnt abandon them, he took them with him! Beats being destroyed in the apocalypse ya think? ;)**

**Jay:**

There was a harsh wind in the late morning air, it blew into my hair, as if it was trying to pull me away by it. Looking down from my courtyard, there was a mad rush to get armor, weapons, and supplements before the war horn was blown. There was a fast moving line into the forge and a line moving out armed with impressive black and gold armor of celestial bronze. Each soldier was given a spear, a sword, and depending on the type of beast, a special weapon like a bow or massive war hammer. Herry would have liked one of those. It was unusual, taking the place where I once stood before without two companions at my side. Regardless, my eyes looked upon my soldiers. There were beasts from every corner of the world.

From the north, many formations of dwarves, who have laid unknown to the mortal eyes, as their homes were deeper than any mortal mine had ever size lived up to the legends, and so did their ferocious attitude and strength with heavy weaponry.

From the plains and valleys below the mountain came centaurs, there were also colonies from the plateaus of China that had outrun the Darkness here. My experience with the beasts let me know well that they had excellent eyesight and even the most humble of them could bull's eye a target from 300 feet away. They had a long, and lasting friendship with the Gods of Olympus, which was why so many had come to the call to arms. They would defend this city to the last breath.

Satyrs had come too. They were not made for war like the dwarves or centaurs, but they were fast on their hooves and, like their horse cousins, were loyal to the Gods. There were men in the ranks too, but very few. They were but the ones who survived the onslaught and knew the truth of what lay upon the peak of Mount Olympus.

Pan had called upon any living thing to us. We had, as well as the "civilized" men and beasts, there were creatures of the wild. Lions, rhinos, leopards, tigers, you name it, if it had claws or teeth, it was here.

But the most stunning of the ranks were the griffins. Under the command of Hermes, they were organised, and deadly. And their intelligence was not to be underestimated either. Along with these many types of soldiers, there were countless other unknown beasts. Giants, cyclopses, minotaurs, you ame it we had one. Unfortunately I knew we were not the only ones recruiting. Many giants and harpies had joined the enemy, not to names the thousands that have been lost to history.

Our greatest defence, was the city. I remembered when it was a janitor's closet, then it seemed to morph into the city. The city seemed to be alive, and it adapted to the user's needs. Massive wass had grown on the perimeter made of marble and stone. It glistened white in the sunlight. The courtyard had grown in size to host a high number of troops and the buildings had raised in elevations, requiring stairs to reach them. The highest building of all, was the throne room. Where the old man still lay. The only way to it was up two sets of steps from the front. One from the left and one from the right. They almost met in the middle. The rest of the platform where the building stood was blocked by sheer drops. It was our last line of defence, if all else would fail, those steps would have to be held. The city had adjusted to our needs quite appropriately.

I walked back into my room. The time had finally come. I moved up to my bookshelf and pulled the book of basic potions for beginners. The bookshelf creaked and slid to the side. Behind it, was a gleaming hallway, and at the end, was a glass case. It was still there. The bronze armor looked as polished and new as the day I got it. The symbol of the pheonix had not lost it's fierce position upon my breast. The Shield was glistening with the reinforced bronze with the carvings of the victory in New Olympia. On the border lay the name of all seven of my teammates in ancient greek. Athena had given it to me as a gift when I joined the gods. That goddess always did have a soft spot for old friends. The helmet still had it's featherings of purple and yellow, but there was a chip in the shape of a slash from just above the left eye hole and ended on the left cheekpiece, Given to e by no less than Cronus himself. I remembered when Hephaestus offered to fix it for me, I declined. I like the scar on the helmet. It reminded me of the dangers ahead, and of the past.

I placed on the equipment. The boots, the tunic, the chestpiece, the gauntlets, I then moved to it; my old sword; Xiphos. It gave off a blue tint in it's case, it was still as sharp as the day it bore into immortal flesh. I gripped it tightly, then slowly drew it from the sheathe. I looked upon it like an old friend and turned quickly around. I slashed the air, 30 years after putting it away for what I thought would be eternity. I slashed again,and again. the blade moved through the air like music, as if the sword and I were one. Looking back to it etchings on the side, I smiled.

I still had it.

My thoughts were interupted by the noise that starts the adrenaline, one that makes the hairs on the back of the neck go on end, the noise I wish I would never hear.

It was a horn, low and booming. It could be heard for miles. It was the battle horn. They were here.

I sheathed by sword, put my helmet on, and ran outside to the Throne platform. The gods, the leaders of the races, and my friends were there. As I looked out to the horizon, the darkest clouds I had ever seen were dropping dark rain on the far field. From the rain, the armies formed from above and from below, as massive cracks in the earth brought the hordes of Hades. They were on the far side of the valley, preparing to march here. The soldiers of Olympus were lining the walls. Every man and woman knew their job, as did I. I looked back to my companions. Atlanta was bearing Aegis, the gift given to her by the gods 30 years ago. Her bow was tuned and ready. Archie had his whip and a one handed axe. His armor was black and gold with a large shoulder pad on his right. Odie was clad in leather armor as he was before, but there was no dynamite this time, he held an automatic crossbow and a lengthy dagger. Niel was well armored in bronze, holding a sword and shotgun in each hand. he was also wearing garlic, convinced that there were vampires among the enemy ranks. We all thoughtit was an old joke, however, he seemed rather serious about it though.

I looked to them.

"The time has come. Remember your jobs, and watch each other's backs. Archie, where are your kids?"

"Theyre in the caves below the Throne hall, like you told to put all the children."

"Good, if we get through this, they will be needed. protect them with your lives. All of you. Including me." I replied.

They all nodded. We all put our hands together, and parted. There was no time. The magical barriers had been made, the traps were set, the army was in position, and the enemy was approaching.

The battle of the world had begun.


	39. FOR NARNIA

**Hey, you know the way I said I wasn't going to post over exams? Well, it turns out that writing this story is also a form of prorastination. Oh well, it's not like youre gonna complain, the story is approaching it's climax!**

The grey clouds came closer and closer, guiding the enemy towards the great mountain. A horde of blackness. Yet the sun still shone on the mountain, giving rays of warmth and strength to the soldiers who stayed firm in position as the moment approached. It was a slow and agonizing process, watching the army approach. The heart began to race with each minute. The gods were in position, Artemis, Athena, and Atlanta were stationed on the walls, armed with enough arrows to fill a lake. Behind them, ready to strike should the enemies scale the walls, was Hera, Pan, and Hephaestus. Alongside them was Odie and Polyphemus, the old cyclops has not forgotten his liberator and friend. Archie and Neil were at my side. We were upon the overlook of the gate, watching with beady eyes.

Eventually, you could hear a slight rumble, this time it was not thunder. It felt like a trembling earthquake. The black blob of enemies began to appear more treacherous, you could see countless figures. There must have been hundreds of thousands of creatures and beasts; giants, minotaurs, cyclopes, and unusual beasts with the stature of a man, but the face of a monstrous thing. It looked corrupted, yet strong and muscular. They were nothing less than the creation of the Darkness. Built for nothing but war and bloodshed. As you could see the figures, you could hear their war chants. Several hundred metres away from the city gates, upon the steep hills which were yet to be covered in snow, they stopped and jeered, clanging swords and shields together, teasing us. It was intimidating, stirring doubt and anxiety among the ranks, but we had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. This was the last stand point of civilization, we had to survive, or die trying. Every being within the walls knew that. This was the turning point in all of history. Darkness would be vanquished from the world, or it would triumph over righteousness and all life would be gone.

They made the first move, you could see them bringing catapults to the front lines, hurling boulders, and all manner of dark matter. But before they even reached the walls, the magical barriers took action and reduced it all to but harmless sand. As the dust settled at the feet of the walls, it was our men's turn to tease and cheer. I smiled, it was a small victory, but it filled the souls with joy to see the puzzled looks on the enemies' faces. This was giving us what we needed; time.

**Cronus:**

When you watch a powerful titan give enormous speeches, assuming that victory is almost easy, it is hard not to smirk when a part of his plan is foiled by a simple manner of magic barriers. Even if you are to the right of him. Satan gave me a glare,

"What's so funny?" he said with a dirty look.

I resumed my previous expression. "Nothing, brother." After a few seconds, he looked back to the wall, angry that his plan was not working. When he looked away, the smile crept back on my face.

Satan gave a deep sigh of frustration, we were far from the front lines, perched upon an elevated rock, yet we could see and hear the olympians cheer as if they were invincible. I knew that my brother had the power to eliminate that shield with no problem, but I knew he needed to be angry. REALLY angry. He wasn't far off at the moment, he just needed a little more... ...encouragement.

Leaning over, i whispered in his ear.

"Well, that's a shame, isn't it? Looks like we might as well just go back to living in a damp hole in the ground, seeing as that shield is so powerful and can never be destroyed."I tried to sound as sarcastic as possible. He always hated sarcasm. His face began to go red, he wasn't angry enough yet.

"Looks like you will never be in charge. They're just too powerful."

"No they're not." He muttered, he was glowing with heat now, Hades, who was to his left, took a few steps, back, suspicious of this result.

He was almost there, he needed just one more thing. I had to say something quick, before he cooled down. And so, with nothing left to say, I whispered again in his ear.

"I slept with your sister."

It was rather stupid, inbreeding being a custom of gods, but it was the feather that broke the camels back. He exploded into an unimaginable rage, he lifted his hands and produced massive orb of dark matter , and hurled it toward the mountain. Within impact of the shield, it created a massive, green blaze that lasted for many a few seconds. When the light cleared, you could see the shield becoming visible, and shattering like glass made from pieces of paper. They floated down like feathers on a calm day, to the feet of the men at the front line. I looked to my brother, he was still steaming from the ears, was breathing heavily like a panting dog.

"Send all legions, full assault." He said.

**Jay:**

I despaired as I watched the shield fall from the skies, tattered like a piece of paper. I watch as a piece fell perfectly into the palm of my hand, then shrivelled up into ash. Looking up, I saw the waves of soldiers clad in black armor approach. From the ranks, arose hundreds of harpies, armed with teeth, claws, and an attitude against the Olympians. But we had planned this. We knew far in advance of the battle what the enemy held in its ranks.

And we were going to use the same thing to counteract them as the ones that gave us that information. I gave the signal, and then the sky went dark, looking up, you would see numerous griffins, Hermes leading them, towards the Harpies. Many of the griffins had archers on their backs, and others carried rocks. The harpies, whose attention was originally on the walls, changed to the more urgent targets, the two races of flying beasts clashed in the air . Many of the soldiers on either side of the wall had to take cover from the falling beasts which fell in the dogfight above. The griffins with rocks pursued past the dogfight and dropped their cargo on the not so lucky soldiers below, a few even made it to drop their rocks on the catapults. Eventually, the harpies retreated to the safety of the foot soldiers, who shot arrows in the sky in hope of hitting a griffin. The griffins did the same, worn from battle and out of rocks, they retreated from the field.

The enemy soldiers were now in range of the archers on the walls. I gave Atlanta the signal. A she readied her bow, the others followed and set their aim. That was when I yelled those words which I had always wanted to say in this situation;

"FIRE!"

It did feel as good as you would have expected. Although it lacked the special effects that movies had, there was a satisfaction in watching hundreds of soldiers crippling and falling to the rain of steel and bronze that pinned half the front lines.

But, as I feared, it was hardly even a dent in the numbers. Where one soldier went down, three took it's place. No matter how many volleys we gave, they just kept coming. The catapults had resumed firing and this time, they weren't being disintegrated. They were smashing into buildings and the walls, a few rocks found their way into the ranks too. That was when they reached the walls, it would take more than just a few rocks to stop the wall, and the enemy knew that, they had brought ladders, and many of them. I commanded the soldiers to draw swords, spears, and all the courage they could muster.

They were fast to climb. The harpies simply glided up top and at the brink of each ladder, were some of the most brutal men of the ranks. Armed with massive axes, they devastated the first blood. I drew my sword, beckoning Archie and Neil to stay close, we rushed to Atlanta, who was already piling enemy bodies around her, using Aegis to it's full extent. The first enemy went for me, I sliced at him before he even began a blow. And so the fighting raged on the walls. Archie, once again, had found his calling. At the rate of his killing spree, he could have the enemy dead by dawn. Ur men were fighting valiantly. They kept the majority of forces at bay.

The griffins had regrouped and retaliated against the harassing harpies above the battle on the walls. The reinforcements from behind had arrived, giving the archers a chance to retreat and get some distance. Odie was in the fight with us now, as Atlanta and the others retreated. The fresh set of soldiers tore up the attackers, the fight fell equal on the walls. I felt that we were staying on top of things, but my smile quickly faded as my eyes looked to the fields. The enemy had brought forward a massive battering ram, made from the bedrock of tartarus, there was no element stronger in the world, and there was no mistaking the luminous orange colour. It was being carried on either side by massive giants, and they were making fast pace towards the gate.

I hesitated not to direct the archers towards the giants, they began firing without a moment's notice. But the problem was there were not merely two giants carrying it, there were many holding it. No number of arrows could hinder the mighty ram as it reached the gate. I had Neil and Archie rush to finish off the soldiers on the wall, of whom many of the enemy had lost interest in. Walls were useless if there was an easy way in. The enemy soldiers cheered the giants on. Many of our soldiers had fallen back to the courtyard, but Odie was still amidst the fighting, I had to go out and get him, he was easily on the far side of the wall. As I fought my way through, I managed to reach him, he wielded his weapons firmly. Much more confidently than he ever would have all those years ago. I called to him.

"Odie, they're break in, we need to get to the gate!" I yelled. He nodded and signalled many of the many to get downstairs. He covered them as they rushed downstairs, nodding to me, tellingme to get down there. I followed his instruction.

As I descended, Odie several harpies had a shot at him, with his sword, Odie swatted them away, but from behind, a massive orc-like monster, wielded a two handed sword and delivered a blow to the back. I looked upon with despair, screaming his name, sprinted back up the stairs, not hesitating to kick enemies out of the way. I rushed to his now lifeless body, which lay face first in the ground. I slew the beast that had done this to him with a furious swing of xiphos. I rolled Odie's body to the side so I could see him with my tearrng eyes.

He was gone, there was nothing I could do but close his eyes, and drop two drachnas in his open hand. As I shot up, I went into a small fury and slew the remaining creatures of darkness. Darkness had now taken two of my closest friends. I was down for revenge.

The gate was being bashed when I got down there. A few more strikes and it was gone. The soldiers were ready to fight, although the battering unsettled them. The courtyard was large, an adequate charge was possible.

"Hold your ground!" I commanded them, "Remember, you are the army of Olympus, you will fight to the last man."

_BOOM_

"Steady..."

The gate smashed wide open, and instantly the flood of enemies poured through. It was better to get them now then later, and so I yelled at the top of my lungs,

"For Olympus, and for Zeus!" The men cheered as I led the charge into the battle. We were all in formation, spears down, ready to blow, I raised my sword, shield ready, as the brink of the fight approached.

"This one's for Odie," I thought.


	40. The Tunnel of Time

It felt like we had been walking in that cave for weeks, despite the fact it had been two days. the path winded up and down and from side to side. All we had to keep us going was a torch to guide the way and the scythe to remember our purpose. That was it. We had no food and almost no water, but we just kept going, as if some supernatural force was watching over us. However, I did not sense my father's presence, he had more urgent matters on his mind, like defending Olympus.

Yeah, my mind was becoming stronger now. Each step took me closer to him, making it easier to read his mind, and the ones around him. There were many minds, I sensed fear and anxiety. I was starting to think that the people on the surface were not faring much better than we were.

I was expecting the tunnel to be cramped and lightless, but instead, the roof extended many storeys and aa mysterious light shone from above, like small artificial suns. They revealed that the cave was more than a hole in the ground. It looked like an ancient temple. There were carvings on the left side. They told a remarkable story.

The first image was a dark blank cloud made dark from the granite that was outlined in the pale stone. A you walked on. There appeared a woman in green, followed by many others. The story stretched all the way through the tunnel. They told the story of the gods and how cronus grew to power, then zeus. They then began to show the stories of the mortal kind. It showed the story of many greek, eygyptian, and even far eastern heroes. It appeared to be the history of the mortals. I came across the stopry of my ancestor Jason. It was a depiction of him at the bow of the argo, with the argonaughts at his back. It showed the many faces of his enemies, of whom he faced with his sword drawn. There were many recognisable faces, but the one that was the most chilling was the pale face of a blonde woman with glowing green eyes. Yes, the emeralds that were her eyes glowed. But beyond the foes, there was a golden fleece. Jason faced dangers beyond imagination, yet he overcame them and got that fleece. It was funny. I have a similar fate to his, except the whole world was on the line, not one kingdom. I came back to reality and remembered my task. I looked to ashlynn, who was staring mesmerized at the glowing emeralds.

"Ashlynn." I said. She seemed to not be hearing me. I grabbed her arm to get her attention. The second I touched her arm, a vision came to me. The glowing green eyes of medea. They stared down right into my soul and I felt as if all warmth was drained from me. The vision disapparated before my eyes, and I saw Ashlynn. She was loooking at me curiously and it made me uneasy.

"What is it?" She asked. Her eyes were almost as sharp as the ones from the vision.

"Uh, we should keep moving." I said, avoiding to mention the vision.

Over the seemingly eternity of tunnel, we followed the story, assuming that whoever had made this were greeks. But when we came to the end of the greek era, when we came across something we did not expect. Even though what we assumed would be the end of the carvings, it kept going into the romans. We kept following it, realizing the carvings may not have been greek after all, but that couldn't be possible. On every ceiling, there was an image of the gods watching over the carvings of the past. We expected it to end, but i just kept going through the millenia and kept going. My heart skipped a beat when I came across one illiustration; It was an image of a brown land, covered in craters and trenches, and there were bodies scattered everywhere. Above, you could see the gods quarreling amongst one another. Thiswas an illustration of the great war all those years ago. It was enough to scare you, and depress you. As we kept walking it showed the second, cold, and iraq wars. There were depictions of skyscrapers and planes. Then, as if it were suddenly back in greek times, there were seven heroes, their descendants looking down on them as they fought a man with a black tus, crooked smile and a golden scythe. This was the image of my parents fighting cronus.

We could start to see a dim light in the distance. As we approached, we saw that the tunnel had ended and was mostly walled off expect for a small doorway the size of a small archway, leading to the light outside of the tunnel. We had made it. We had made it to the forge of olympus. A place forgotten my mortal and god alike.

Before we went through the doorway, something had caught my eye. Beside the doorway, there was a carving of a person. As I approached, I saw that It consisted of two main drawings. One was above the other. It showed a flood of darkness pouring over a white stone fortress. As I lay a finger on the picture, images of a ferocious battle came to me. The gods, the last of the seven were fighting hordes of twisted beings. I saw many dead, I saw the body of Odie. Despair came across me and I exited the vision at that second, breathing heavily.

"No..." I spoke quietly. "Please no."

It was hopeless. I knew it was true. Odie was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it.


	41. Neil the Hero

**Oh my, look who forgot to write an authors note for his first chapter in a month. Well, here you guys are, I hope you guys are as excited as I am to satisfy this storyline. I have noticed that this is one of the longest stories for cott on the site. AWW YEAH**

**Were almost at 100 reviews, keep it going! And please, I want to see more faces on that review list! If youre reading, please comment even if you don't have an account. Nobody here is going to bite! I hope to see some new opinions :)**

**Cronus:**

Our men were pouring through the gate. The first wave had done it's job. Hades' men were moving in. I never thought my first born would ever been any use, but when you bewitch him to do your bidding, he has his uses.

I remained at Satan's side. I knew, that even with the walls out of the way, the fight was only beginning. Olympus was no small city and it would take alot of time and soldiers to get to the key monument of Olympus; the high temple at the very peak, over looking the entire world. Could almost sense my son's presence there. The key t victory was simple: no zeus, no resistance. But I knew, that Zeus was not my biggest problem. He was protected by the most powerful mortals to walk this earth, as well as his fellow olympians. There was no getting to Zeus without getting through Jay. I always questioned if I hated Jay more than Satan. There were days when I thought so, but then I come round after remembering what this god of darkness had done to me. Yet here I was, leading his armies for him. Was it really worth it? If Darkness succeeds, I would become his pet for all eternity. And if there would be any king worse than Zeus, it was him. Yet, I remained silent, patient. Waiting for my chance. It was close.

I caught satan's grin from the corner of my eye. He looked at the smoke arising from the city.

"It is time, brother. I believe we have some unfinished business in the white city of the gods." He whistleed for the dragon who came upon the instant. My brother mounted on first, the beckoned me on as well. Not offering a hand, just a nod. I approached the scaly beast, when I felt something.

It was a light tingling in my fingers. It felt like... ...like power. It had been so long since I had felt something like it. I was almost in shock.

"Brother," Satan snapped, "What is it?"

I shrugged, "Nothing," as I mounted behind my brother on that big, smelly dragon.

**Neil:**

The battle had broken out all over the city, we held strong at the stairs leading towards the temple, but everywhere else, our forces were scattered. Atlanta was nearby. She had abandoned her bow for two deadly blades that cut through the ranks of the enemy like hot knives through butter. Many of the demons from Hades were in the fight. I had now idea where Jay or Archie were, but they were strong enough to take care of themselves for now. I had been a bit out of practice, but my luck had been keeping me strong so far.

I had worked my way back to the main lines outside the stairs, sure enough, Jay and Archie were there. As was Athena. Jay nodded to me.

"Archie, go get to Atlanta, watch her back." Archie rushed into the fray. Jay gave me a stern stare, ready to issue me an order, when suddenly, there was a piercing scream so loud that I'm sure the soldiers outside the walls could of heard it. And of all people, it was athena. She pointed up to the sky. A silouhette of a winged reptile soared towards us. Jay gave the order to scatter as the creature breathed fire down on our ranks. The lines gave way to the enemy, the second barrier was down. We were doomed at this rate. We needed to take out the dragon before it destroyed the entire army. Looking to Jay for help, I saw that he was occupied with fighting. As were the other gods. As a demon approached it, I ducked it's swing and thrust my sword into it's gut. I tried to think of a way to take out the creature. Mirrors were useless, unless it was as narcissistic as I was, then I remember how we defeated Typhon, how Zeus defeated Typhon.

The lightning bolts. They were in the temple. It was a crazy idea, but I had to. I began to work my way there. Jay saw me and yelled at me to come back and fight, but I ignored him. This was critical to do. I managed to reach the feet of the temple, which were guarded by soldiers. Recognizing me, they let me through. I rushed into the temple. I had never rushed so much in my life, I figured that the lightning bolts would be held onto by Zeus. As I came upon the frail body, I noticed that there was a quiver of master bolts behind the throne. I grabbed them and rushed to the rooftop. When I reached there, the battlesite looked grim. The enemy was edging ever closer towards the temple. I had to stop that dragon. I took out o bolt and readied it. I aimed carefully, when I saw who was on the back.

They were coated in heavy armor. One I didn't know, but the other. My heart raced and I shrieked in terror. It was Cronus. I regained my focus and aimed carefully. I threw with all my focus, but I had missed him. I tried again, trying even harder. I missed again. I couldn't beleive it. My luck had run out. I could not hit him. At a time like this when I needed to try so hard to keep hitting but failed.

Trying. That was it. All those times my luck prevailed, I was never trying. It was always by accident or happened with no effort. That was it. If I was going to hit the beast, I needed to stop trying. On;y then would my luck prevail. I readied the last bolt. This was my last chance to kick the dragon out of the sky. I closed my eyes, hoping for the best, and lunged it. As I opened my eyes, I thought it was going to miss, but then the dragon, unaware flew straight into it's path. The lightning bolt struck it in the hearth and the dragon fell out of the sky and landed on the streets. I exhaled with a sigh of releif, I rushed towards the stairs, when my pathwas blocked by a bizzare, yet familiar creature. The body of a woman but the rear of a bird. It was the sphinx.

I drew my sword, ready to fight.

"Hey, long time no see." She spoke with her forked tongue. "You helped that little smart boy solve my riddle, and doomed me to eternity in tartarus."

"Hey, I didn't do it on purpose, and besides, you deserved it." I said.

She smirked. I daringly replied,

"We'll see who is laughing at the end. I lunged at her with my sword and hit her in the chest. Knocked back, she retaliated with sharp claws and a lunge. She knocked me to the ground. Using my feet, I kicked her over my head. Getting up, I saw she was on the edge of the roof.

"What are you going to do? Throw me of the cliff?" She cackled. "I have wings you fool."

"Not for long." I muttered and charged a second time, she dodged my initial impact and I myself stumbled before falling off the cliff. The sphinx jabbed at my back, trying to push me off. As she did so, I grabbed her wings. My grip was so tight, it tore through the membrane that made her wings. She roared in terror as I brought her down with me. Her claws were deep in my spine, but I pulled my arm down her wing, destroying any hopes of her escape from our fate. My mind was rushing. The last seconds of my life consisted of pain, anger, but most of all, pride. I was gone, but the dragon was out of the skies too. I, for the first time in my life, felt like I had accomplished something. I knew in my heart the others would take care of the rest of the battle. My work here was done.

And with that, I departed from this world...


	42. DA TWEEST

**Nice to see the reviews! Keep them coming. Even if you dont have an account, you can still review. Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)**

**Herry:**

I stood before the entrance to the forge of olympus, ready to end this once and for all. My heart was racing faster than ever before. I was scared. I didn't know what the future would hold. I looked to me left, ashlynn smiled and nodded to me. I smiled, then noticed something on the wall behind her. It was a carving, which was just a blank spot before. It was in the very corner, under the picture from which I saw the battle above. It was of a redheaded man, with blue green eyes, bearing the same weapon seen earlier; the scythe. It was me.

"Herry," warned Ashlynn, "we haven't much time."

I ignored her, there was a strange figure behind my figure. At the ends, the hair was res, but blended into beach blonde and the character pore a twisted knife. My mind became fuzzy as I looked at the face, focusing, I saw green, glowing eyes.

My eyes widened, my mind suddenly became so crystal clear. Floods of thoughts, and emotions came to my mind. The green eyes were there again. And I heard a distinct scream. It was Ashlynns. I came out of the vision. It could only mean one thing. I turned to Ashlynn as fast as I could. Sure enough. A faint glow was growing in her eyes, her facial structures shifted, and the air faded from red to blonde from the roots to the ends. By the end of the transformation, the eyes were as luminous as the sun, and an evil smile stretched across Medea's face.

"No, it can't be.." I found myself shaking, short on breath. Medea cackled evilly.

"Haha, I cannot beleive my clouding enchantment work. Not even your pathetic mortal mind could penetrate my disguise." Her eyes gave me an chilling, seductive look. As I drew the Scythe, my only form of defence, she used a blast of force to disarm me.

"Do you really think that your girlfriend could really get to Rome from Ireland without some sort of magic? Mind you, she did try."

"What have you done to her?" I yelled at her. She laughed some more.

"She was so desperate to reach you. She most likely would have reached you if my warriors didn't ambush her first. The same ones you fought off in the train."

"You're lying." I looked at her sternly. I desperate for her to be.

"Really? I have proof. You're familiar with this.. err, contraption?" She tossed me what looked like the handle of a pistol, with three prongs on the end. It was Archie's Hephaestus whip. I remembered seeing it in her backpack one time.

I couldn't believe it . She really was dead. My heart fell full of despair, and all I wanted to do was break down and cry and scream and yell. I loved her, and I left her because I did, she died because of my love for her. And who I kissed was just this slimy imitator.

Once again, my despair turned to hatred, this time on the person who really deserved it. Medea elegantly lifted the scythe from the ground and placed it in her hand. The second she touched it, the sound of sharp steel slicing on an icy surface echoed through the halls. She inhaled deeply.

"Oh that power feels good."

"So, what now?" I demanded. "You're just going to let Satan claim the scythe and control the world for all eternity? The blonde woman frowned at me.

"You really think that I would sneak into the underworld, free my warriors, follow you through the underworld, try to kill you on several occasions, and come this far for a slimy little worm who's scared of what lies outside his cave? No. With this weapon, I am more powerful than the gods, they will obey me; at least if there are any left. Those fools never cease to fight amongst themselves, do they. It is time for a new player on the field; me."

"Your time has come and gone Medea." I interrupted.

"And what are you going to do now? A mere mortal against the powers of a witch, who had finally regained all of her great strength, ready to thrust my foes beneath me."

"You really have quite the ego."

"And rightfully so. You're looking at the new queen of the world."

I stopped to look around. Medea was having her fun, doing as evil villains do, bragging about her plans. I surveyed the area. There was nothing I could use, around me. I then looked down to my hands. I was holding the Hephaestus whip. I remembered seeing Archie use it in the graveyard, and a different one in the vision of the battle. I gripped it firmly around my hand. I knew what I had to do.

"And so, now there will be nothing, and no one to stop me."Medea concluded.

I smiled a crooked smile, "You appear to have overlooked something."

She stared at me in confusion, "What."

I simply answered; "Me."


	43. Your Own Undoing

**Evening. I see you guys don't seem to think that Ashlynn is dead. I dont guarantee that future, but all I can is give you all more twists! Im gone for a few weeks. I will bulk finish the story once I return, and we will see the very end of this long story. Maybe I can release the end on the day when I released chapter 1 of the grande finale! That would be a good anniversary!**

**Jay:**

The smoke cleared and the dragon lay dead in the middle of the courtyard. The men cheered as the demoralized enemy started to get confused. I owed Neil a beer for disobeying orders. I never thought I would have to do that. I recalled when Herry challenged Neil to a drinking competition. Surprisingly, Neil won.

That would have to wait, as a cloudy apparation arose from the dragon corpse and landed on the wall. There was suddenly cheering from the enemies, and I saw why. The apparation made physical form, and standing before the enemy was a man clad in golden armour, and beady yellow eyes. It was darkness. I caught his eye as I stared into his. We both knew that each other were the leaders, and we prepared to face one another. He began to apparate again and flew to in front of me. I readied xiphos, but before I could be ready, he formed in front of me and swiped at me with a large greatsword. It sent me flying back and I landed on my back. He approached me and rested his metal black boot on my chest.

He said to me, "The Olympians don't derserve to rule."

Grabbing his ankle and flipping him into the ground, I said

"They deserve to choose for themselves."

Darkness knocked back to the ground and readied his sword for a ripe old stabbing.

"Then you shall join them in their fate."

I was pinned to the ground, I couldn't move. But right as the snakey god raised the blade, there was a noise;

It was the sound of swooshing air, and of a sonic boom. It had caught the attention from me to the sky. I concentrated on looking through the clouds.

It came again, and following it, a chugging sound. And then it hit me.

It was the sound of helicopters.

They started coming out of the clouds in the hundreds. Raining shells and bullets into the enemy ranks below. Countless troopers were parachuting from above. Darkness ignored me and apparated out out of the fight and to his ranks outside. I got up and rushed to the highest point I could. And I could not believe my eyes. The clouds were clearing, revealing a strong afternoon sun. But that was not the sight for sore eyes.

There was a fleet of battleships that had travelled up the river, you could see thousands of transports send troops, tanks and all sorts of vehicles, they hit the beaches and you could see the ranks clash with those of the enemy. Explosions and gunshots being heard from as far as the peak of the mountain. I cheered at the top of my lungs. The fight was far from over, but this gave us hope. Reinforcements had arrived. They must have survived the onslaught on the cities and grouped together. I rushed back to the fight. This did not mean victory. This meant that both divine and mortal would be going out together.

* * *

><p><strong>Cronus:<strong>

After fighting in the city for a while, I did not gain fatigue. If anything, I felt stronger. The scythe was drawing near. I knew it. It would soon be time. Even with the help of the so called "navy", it was a futile attempt to delay the inevitable. As the scythe grew closer, my powers began to regrow. My chance was approaching. I had many deals to settle in this city, so when my brother left the city, I knew where to find him. And so I worked my way back to the Base of Operations. Several mortal soldiers tried to stop my advance. But they were not my concern. I had one task on my mind.

The time had come.

I approached my brother as he looked over the battle from the tentlike shelter on top of the large rock as the battle rage beneath our feet.

"You appear not to be fighting brother." Satan mentioned, "I cannot blame you, the scores to settle in there can wait. This is a bit more pressing a situation down here."

I walked right behind him and whispered in his ear; "I had a different score to settle in mind."

I grabbed his wrist and tugged him to the ground. The two guards tried to stop me but I projected a force so strong that it blew them and the shelter above our heads into the sky. Gripping him by the collar, I placed my other hand on his chest. A purple light began to flow from him to me. It felt good.

"What is the meaning of this brother?" He yelled in surprise and anger. He was beginning to feel pain and winced as I drew his life force from him. He tried to move, but I was too strong for him now.

"Meaning of this? MEANING OF THIS? Did you not see through me? Do you not recall what you have done o me, brother? Your jealousy destroyed me, and everything I was. You made me kill my own father!"

My grip went from the collar to his throat, he began to choke. "B-but you won't kill your own brother, would you?"

I cackled. "Of course I will. You made me like this. I endured millenia in tartarus _because of you_. I have not lived in peace _because of you_, and I am what I am _because of you_." I had absorbed almost all of his life force. His skin was going clammy grey, and he was gasping for air. Struggling to free of his grip, but now it was him who would be doomed. I felt no regret, only relief of hatred buried deep in me as the sly sparkle in his eyes faded.

"This is your own undoing brother." I said. And with that, the purple power had been fully absorbed his power, and the motionless, stiffened body fell to my feet. It had been done. Revenge was mine. I now had his powers. Despite the death of their leader, his army was still unaware of the occurrence. It must have been because the power that made them was not destroyed, only transferred to a more powerful and worthy being. I was now the leader of the new world.

Watch out Jay, I'm back.

**Remember to review; profile or not! Have a good few weeks! :)**


	44. The grande finale

**Heyguys, this is it. The climax, the harbringer, whatever you wanna call it, it's here. grab some popcorn and read. Its pretty long btw. PLEASE REVIEW and all the other things too please. :)**

**Cronus:**

I emerged in the stone courtyard, eyeing for the last man who could stop me. There was little fighting near me, the full fight was at the stairwell to the temple. I would surely find the remaning heroes there. I walked slowly in that direction, surveying my surroundings. Victory seemed certain. The olympian forces were weakening and more men were coming in by the minute. I was close now, so close to taking back what was taken from me. I walked past Athena as she fought of a minotaur, blood, sweat and tears drenching her. She withdrew her sword from the defeated corpse and looked up. I caught her attention. Those proud eyes filled with fear as she dropped her sword in the horror of my return. I smiled crookedly and snapped my fingers. A massive force field smashed her against the castle wall, rendering her out of action.

I was too easy. She was unarmed and had lost faith. I always actually liked her as a grandchild. She was bold and proud. She obviously got those qualities from me. I laid my eyes scanning for my next target. As I saw him, a rush of excitement came over me. This was going to be good.

* * *

><p><strong>Archie:<strong>

My joints were complaining for a while now, but that wasn't going to stop the endless hordes. I fought on, and on, and on. They had pushed us to the last defence. The marble stairs that led up to the temple. It wasn't looking good. The phalanx was breaking and the fighting was getting more personal.

I moved into a position where I was pushing the enemy back down the steps. I was faring quite well, until I noticed a shape outside the bulk of fighting. The dark, beady eyes never fooled me fore a second. It was Cronus, and he was staring right at me. The smile was as greedy and evil as they could get, but then his eyes looked to the left, or my right. The direction they looked were to the temple, then back to me. His eyes glowed with cunning and evil. It hit me, he was going to try and get my kids. The boys. No. I had to stop him. He would not get my kids. Over my dead body.

I fell back from my position, bouncing off of steps, walls and soldiers. Trying to get over there before he did. He pushed past his own men to reach the last few steps, just to find me waiting for him. But then I noticed he wasn't charging at me. With a snap of his fingers, around 20 men started to come for me. He never was a predictable man. At least for me.

It didn't matter how many men he would send at me. I kept fighting them off. Nobody was getting past this temple without me at their feet. My joints were screaming at me, telling me stop, but they were not a problem for me. I had ignored worse, and so I fought off every demon, creature that he sent my way, but as I decapitated a roaring reptilian, I turned around.

There was a piercing pain in my ankle. It crippled me and yelled in pain. Looking up, I saw Cronus reloading an ebony bow. His aim was dead perfect. The arrow struck me in the ankle. I saw an orc move in attempt a shot at me while I was down. Embracing the pain, I swung my sword in a circular motion, slicing it's ankles. Leaping onto the orc, my sword lifted high, went right through his heart.

Another pierce. This time it was in the back of the knee. I rolled off the dead orc, holding my twice shot leg. I saw the man approach me. He readied one last arrow to my heart. I prepared to embrace death. Closing my eyes, I wished only for the pain to stop. I was bleeding out now, I just wanted this to end quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry:<strong>

I thrust out the whip, and the wicked witches eyes sprang as open as a door from a ghostly wind. Her reaction was quick and blocked the blow from the rope like metal. Rumour was that it could break through anything. It appeared that anything excluded magic weapons. She retaliated with a swipe that would have slice my chest had I not dodged it. I rolled away from my cornered position into the open. Now that I knew that the whip would not break the scythe, it went and tried to disarm her. With a bit of handiwork, I attempted to lasso the hook around the weapon in Medea's grip. Unfortunately, I missed and had to back away as a furious medea lunged at me. However, she stopped in a poition that left her vulnerable, so I smashed her with my left fist as hard as I could. I don't think I had ever committed so much force and anger into a punch before, because she went flying. The scythe flew out of her grip. I ran quickly to retrieve it, but Medea forced me back with her magic. I got up as quickly as I could to get it, but she had picked it up. I readied the whip, which I noticed was not in my grip. It lay on the ground a few metres away from me. It must have fallen out when medea pushed me.

The evil woman stared at me, smiling. She was waiting for me to make the next move. If I ran for the whip, she would get me, if I ran for her, shed get me too. We circled one another, at a stalemate. It was useless. She was too powerful for me to handle. I had no Ashlynn with me, o dad, no one. I felt helpless, but angry at the same time. I had not come all this way to lose to a witch. She was my last obstacle, but I could not defeat her one on one.

And then, I felt like all my anger and stress was cleansed by a stream. I zoned into a different medium, and I could hear fain voice. It was so distant, but I knew it by the gentle articulation. It was my mother.

"Herry, Herry. Do not give up, your destiny is awaiting. Its up to you, and only you."

"But, I can't. She's too strong mother, I can't beat her." I faintly replied.

The gentle voice whispered.

"You have a power beyond any of her imaginings, its within you. It is your Aura. Release it. You know what to do." She whispered, and slowly the medium faded into reality. I was back where I was, as if no time had passed at all. Medea saw my guard was down, and she prepared to make the killing move. She lunged forward, scythe ready to penetrate my body, but it didn't, I had stopped her blow by gripping her arm. She was taken back by surprise. I felt a fiery adrenaline in my veins. I felt strong in body and mind. The power felt like it was bursting from the seams and I felt a need to release this energy, and here was my arch enemy facing right at me. A perfect scenario.

What I did at that moment, I can't quite explain, but I recall yelling and a purple force set Medea absolutely flying across the room. I was floating now, and by eyes had a purplish vision to them. The next thing that happened, I was lifting chinks of ground from the floor and hurling them at Medea. She deflected them with her own magic and began to fire back at me with fireballs. They too, were deflected. I realized that I myself wasn't doing anything. It was my Aura. It was doing the fighting for me. It shielded me, and projected the floor at Medea, it was controlling my body. What had started as a mortal brawl many months ago was climaxing into a clash of titans.

* * *

><p><strong>Archie:<strong>

The arrow pointed to my fast beating heart, ready to puncture my skin. Cronus sneered. I embraced for death.

But just as the arrow released, a spinning dagger sliced it's head and sent the arrow flying in an unknown direction. Cronus looked up from his victim, dropped his bow and raised hos sword as a flash of red hair and gold armor flew into my view. Despite the pain and the blleding, I could not help but smile as Atlanta confronted Cronus and fought with unmatched fury. Cronus did his best to block, but Atlanta kept coming, and coming, and coming. I had never seen her fight so ferociously. Even back when we were just kids. She never put so much effort into anything like she was now. And it was all for me. I had been so caught up in watching the love of my life fight that I had not noticed the fact that I was bleeding to death. I was beginning to feel light headed and whoozy.

Despite my inevitable fate, I watched as Atlanta fought. I noticed that Cronus was not attacking at all. He was just waiting for Atlanta to tire. She was wearing Aegis, and a blow anywhere under the neck was pointless anyway. But Cronus's patience payed off. Atlanta thrust a blow as hard as she could with both swords, and with in a second. Cronus disarmed her and sliced her neck like a fishmonger would gut a fish. She fell right beside me, and as in her last few breaths, she looked at me and smiled.

"Didn't think you were going to walk in the underworld alone now, were you?" I smiled and held her and. Her chest stopped rising, and her eye's sparkle lost their tint. She was gone, and I followed her a few seconds later. I knew, that it was time to pass on. We had done what we could. And now it was time to walk in the fields of Elysium. It was all left to Jay, and his son. The last thing I recalled of life, was Cronus looking at our dead bodies, and moving onwards to his next target.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry:<strong>

I pushed Medea into the corner. I pressed towards the scythe, which lay on the ground at my feet. I knew that the second that I took it, my focus on fighting Medea would go. So I picked it up and sprinted as fast as I could to the doorway. Medea, once relieved of defending herself persistently followed.

The heart of the world was bigger than I expected. That was an understatement. It was huge. The tools and benches were still there. They were built to be the size for gods and you could feel so puny and insignificant. In the middle was a massive pool of lava. Unfortunatley it also meant that it was a hell of a lot longer distance to run to the massive cliff, which dropped into fiery magma below. The heat was unbearable. Especially as I got closer. As I approached the fiery chasm, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. It dropped me to the ground, and I rolled in pain. Medea had formed a dagger out of thin air and threw it at me. It hit me perfectly in the left shoulder between my spine and the shoulder blade.

She walked towards me and shouted.

"You are so weak, like the rest of you're kind." She smiled, "and did you really think you could take on the witch that neither of your ancestors could. What chance do you really think you have?"

I rolled into a kneeling position my back was turned to her. I pulled the dagger out of my should with difficulty. The wound wasn't too deep and I could still use my arm. Looked at the dagger. It was quite plain. A piece of sharp metal with a leather handle. I reflected on my adventure. How many people had died for me? How many lives are still in my hands? What chance do i really have? I had not come this far to be taken down by an egotistic witch. I gripped the scythe tightly. Medea was tightening the gap between me and her. I smiled to my self, and muttered back to her question.

"Time to find out." I turned immediately and threw the dagger back at her. Taken by surprise, she failed to block it and it penetrated into her gut. She howled in pain. I charged her, my eyes were glowing purple and I think I was luminous purple too.

"Immortal my ass." I said. I thrust the scythe into her side, retreated it and knocked her down with my elbow. As her bloody head bounced back up from the hard ground, I decapitated her with one swift blow. Blood spurted in every direction. I never felt so relieved in my life. The adrenaline was still pumping and I was breathing heavily as I watched the blonde head roll away from the body.

It was done. She was dead! There was nothing left in my way to stop me now. I took the scythe, covered in blood of a demigod, and ran towards the pool.

* * *

><p><strong>Jay:<strong>

The fight was brutal. We were losing and the enemy was minutes away from breaking into the temple. I hadn't seen any of the others. I could only assume the worst. It was only me and a few of the immortals left really. Where the others were, I had no idea.

I slew a demon to my ground, the sound of death all around me. That was when I saw a familiar face. At first, I couldn't believe it. It couldn't be. A second look and I knew my eyes were not fooling me. It was Cronus. He was battle Hephaestus, when he decided to go into god form, lifting the poor god with both hands and ripping him into two pieces. I dropped my shield and ran towards him. Moving into god form as I went. I picked up a fallen sword so I had one in each hand. I rolled and appeared in battle stance, helmet on tightly, staring at the enemy I once thought that I had defeated.

"Cronus!"

He looked at me and smiled, throwing the two pieces of Heph aside and drawing his longsword.

"Jay! Old friend." Sword raised, he lunged at me. I blocked his sword blow and pushed him aside. He rolled away and landed on his feet.

"It's you and me Cronus." I said, looking him in the eye. He cackled and replied.

"No Jay, it's just me." And we clashed swords, once again as if it were all those years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry:<strong>

I was at the edge of the cliff, looking at the bright pool of magma below. I raised the scythe over the hole, ready to drop it. I was ready to end this once and for all. At long last.

But then, i heard a voice in myh head. It was sneaky and snake like.

_Why drop me? You can have my power. You can rule the world from your finger tips._

I hesitated, I realized the scythe was talking to me. It's voice was sneaky, but seductive and warming. A part of me was wanting to do as it said, the rest told me to keep to my task. It spoke again.

_You're such a strong man, I can make you stronger. Just, take me home with you..._

Another voice appeared in my head. It was my mother's.

_**Jay, don't listen to it. Its trying to win you over.**_

_Don't listen to her. Shes all in your head she doesn't exist..._

_**Jay, you must listen to me. Dont let this thing get to you.**_

I collapsed to the ground, scythe only inches away from the cliffside. I gripped my head. I didn't know what was happening. It was painful. Once again the voice spoke.

_You need to realize Herry, we have been together for so long, that your soul is bound to me. If I die, so do you._

* * *

><p><strong>Jay:<strong>

Cronus had a lot more prance in his step than I recalled. His strikes were getting harder and harder to block, until eventually, he hit me so strongly that I was knocked to the ground. He lifted his sword, ready to strike into me, until there was a sound of fighter jets, and an explosion right into Cronus's chest. It knocked him back. The military was pushing for the air. Another few fighter jets took a shot at Cronus,and he stumbled back, injured. He looked up to the temple and started to make a run for as he crossed my path, I flung my arm out and tripped him over. His massive body landed with a massive thump that shook the whole city. I got up and grabbed xiphos, as I struck, he deflected it with his and he pushed me back. We clashed swords We were at each other's throats, and with his blade, he pushed so it was edging towards my throat. It tried to push back, and then I kicked him away. Getting up, I struck again, Cronus disarmed me and kicked me right into the gut. I flew the whole way across the courtyard, landing on my stomach. Cronus lifted mt by my hair to his shoulders height as he readied his sword for the final blow.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry:<strong>

I was bashing my head againt the ground, trying to get the voices out of my head. They kept taking to me, and talking to me. I was going insane.

_Come on Herry. Just pick me up and walk away._

_**Herry, do no such thing. Cast it into the fire.**_

Herry this and Herry that. I hardly knew what I was doing anymore. I waved my body frantically all over the place. Bashing my head against the ground. I wanted to die. I would have rather died than this. It was painful and screeching. I felt like sharp nails were scraping against the inside of my head.

_Look at you Herry, youre dying. Have I wronged you?_

I muttered; "Shut up. SHUT UP!"

_In a few seconds you will end up just like your friends, your mother, your girlfriend._

"NOOO!" I yelled. I grabbed the scythe. Touching it felt like every bone in my body was shattering. I cried out in absolute pain, but I tried again. I tried to look past the pain, and gripped it tightly.

And with one final swing, I released it over the chasm. With a massive burst of flames, it was gone, and I blacked out.

* * *

><p><strong>Jay:<strong>

Right as Cronus was about to thrust into my gut, he dropped the sword, and me. When I looked up, I saw him yelling in pain. All of a sudden, a massive ray of light burst out of his chest. Then another, then another. It spread until his entie body was engulfed. His yells and screams grew louder and more intense, until there was a massive explosion. And all that was left was but ash and dust. All around me, the minions of the enemy encountered the same fate. And the sun finally broke through the grey clouds. As the minions disintegrated, Hades came into my view, about to slice at Hera. With what started as a ferocious yell then turned into a yell from fear. He backed away, dropped his sword. Hera, astonished but what happened, backed away as well. He fell to his knees and his eyes, full of confusion and horror. The only thing he muttered was;

"Wh- what have I done?"

The same thing was happening outside the castle too. After the exploding light spread and eventually disappeared, leaving only the warm sunlight, was there a long and eerie silence. I walked across the courtyard. Looking beyond into the city and the valley. The forces of Darkness were no more. Cronus was no more. Herry had done it!


	45. The End

**At long last my friends, the journey ends. Review and enjoy plz. :)**

**Jay:**

As the day grew late, and the bodies of the fallen were wiped off of the streets and fields, did any of us finally begin to realize that it was all over. The sun gave off a cool, clear warmth which felt refreshing to the skin when exposed. I had convened every survivor to the temple at sundown. By the time that the suns last rays peeped over the horizon, we had everyone. The Olympian gods including Hades, the last few of the centaurs, dwarves and other manners of beasts. There were also amongst the highest surviving ranks of the human military there. We all sat around a large circular table which was littered with food and drink.

Despite the reasons to celebrate, we were all silent. We had won from the hang of a thread. Had it not been for fate, we would have died. Human numbers had dwindled so much that it seemed that it would be impossible to recolonize. And there wasn't really anything left to colonize. The majority of survivors were old war veterans who let their experience save their lives. Nobody talked or even smiled. After finishing a leg of chicken, I decided to stand up.

"I assume you all know that we are all here to decide what happens next."

The room looked to me, expecting a magnificent speech. Not that one happened, of course.

"Maybe we should consider starting fresh?" I proposed. One of the old soldiers stood up.

"With what?" He demanded, "There is nothing left. We went in through the Mediterranean and didn't see a single fish, tree, or any other animal even remotely alive."

"Well what was all the fighting for then? If we're all just going to give up." Athena proposed, "Your men, our men, our families and friends are all gone. What do you propose then, if you seem to know everything?"

"Athena, sit down." Whispered Hera, who sat next to her.

"Hera's right." I said. "We're not getting anywhere if we fight amongst ourselves."

"Indeed we're not." Said a voice behind me. It was a familiar voice of an old man, with a gentle but powerful tone. Turning my head, it was Zeus! He was standing upright, with his cheeks rosy and his beard clean and white. I couldn't believe it. Hera jumped out of her seat to grab him and litter his cheeks with smooches. Once she realized she was seen by everyone, she rushed back to her seat and maintained her conservative attitude.

"Zeus? Wait, does this mean-"

"Yes. It means that humanity will survive, and I too."

You could hear a cheer of celebration amongst everyone. Zeus simply smiled and walked over to me, grabbing me by the shoulder.

"Once again, I have asked too much of you Jay. Yet you still kept going and gained victory. I will not hide it. I have ruined what could have been an easy and happy life. I cannot expect you to forgive me, but I want to let you know, that you have my thanks."

I smiled and held his shoulder too. "You will always have my forgiveness Zeus."

The old man smiled, "You're in my seat Jay."

Blushing, I stepped off of the chair and let him sit at the throne seat at the head of the circular table. He began to speak;

"Ladies, Gentlemen, gods, and all creatures alike. As you may have known, I have been out of action for a while. But regardless, I am very aware of the current situation. And you all have my heartfelt thanks for your service, and the sacrifices you have all made. However, a thank you will not help the world right now. We need to start over. All of us. At the current time, the world is a barren wasteland, completely and utterly uninhabitable. Now, while I was in my zone, I was actually in a form of conciousness, and I had a lot of time to think about the impact I have had on this world, we have had as gods. In the past, we were the big game changers. But in the past 50 years or so, we have caused nothing but trouble and damage to this world. Making a mess and leaving you mortals to clean it up. And so I have made the decision that we, the gods will make this land as it was. We will return all life and leave it to you; the mortal kind."

Hera spoke up; "Zeus, that is more a tedious task than we have ever done. It will exhaust our powers forever. We'll go right out of existence!"

"And the burdens we place on this world with them. I am aware of the consequence. Perhaps it is better that we leave this world." She nodded and joined his side. The rest of the Olympian gods joined them. I stood up to join them but Zeus stopped me.

"No Jay. This isn't your fate. You don't belong to this destiny. You belong in elysium fields, with your friends. This world is starting fresh. We must leave it to the young. Leave it to Herry."

"But lord Zeus, Herry is dead. We recovered the body from the heart of the world a few hours ago."

"He is yet to cross the river. If you reach him before he boards, you may be able to exchange a life for a life."

He gave me a sincere wink. It was as if he could sense my deepest desire. I was sick and tired of life. I had been young for too long. I wasn't cut out to be a god. He was right, I could exchange my soul for the one that this world needs. My sons.

Zeus looked to the rest of the table. "I sense many of you are weary of this life. For those, I offer a chance to peacefully move on to the underworld. This world is in need of young people, and the old and sick will only hold the future of the race down. Come now. Be at peace."

Many of the older men and women stood up. Zeus created a portal to the docks that lay at the mouth of the river styx. One by one, they filed in with releived looks on their faces. I was at the end of the line, but before entering, I looked back to the gods.

"So this is goodbye then." I said. They nodded gently. I stepped over to them and each gave them a farewell. And then it came to Hera and Zeus. Hera gave me a kiss on the forehead and I hugged Zeus strongly.

"Of all the mortals I have met in my life, you are without a doubt the greatest Jay. You have surpassed your ancestor and all those in between. You have taught me more about mortals than millenia of ruling over them. and now you have silenced the darkest evil that this world will have ever seen. You deserve peace."

"My work here is done. Thanks for everything." I replied, stepping back.

"Now I beleive you have a boat ride to stop my friend." He said.

I looked back at them one last time, and then leapt into the portal.

* * *

><p>The underworld looked much like it always did. Red and damp. There was quite the crowd waiting for the boat to arrive. I looked for Herry amongst the crowd but I couldn't see him everywhere. I walked out of the crowd in frustration when I saw him walking towards the crowd, several feet behind Athropos. Not by mere accident, I knew.<p>

"Anthropos!" I yelled. I caught her attention. She didn't seem enthusiastic as we werent on the best of terms since the time when I nearly died and she lost her chance to have me as a trophy.

"Oh, hello Jay. I must say congratulations on your victory. You've given me a lot of lost souls to lead to the underworld. I trust you're here with reason"

"I'm here to make a deal. My life, for the life of my son."

Herry had seen me and his eyes were open as wide as possible.

"Dad..."

"You don't belong to the underworld yet Herry and I have outstayed my visit. The world above needs you and it no longer needs me so please don't try to deny your father. I want this."

He breathed deeply and eventually nodded.

Anthropos smiled at my offer. "Ever since you escaped from my grasp, I have longed to get you back Jay. When you were proclaimed a god, I thought I would never see this day. You are worth two souls to me in my books, yet you seek out only one. is there another life you want to give back?"

"Ashlynn." Herry muttered. "Bring Ashlynn back too. I won't go back without her."

Anthropos frowned. "I have not received any Ashlynns recently. Your one hasn't died yet."

"Shes not dead?" Yelped Herry.

"She wasn't killed honey. You didn't actually believe that hag did you?"

Blushing, Herry moved aside. I moved to grasp his shoulder.

"This isn't goodbye," I said, "One day we will meet again. But until then, I want you to have this."

I gave him xiphos. "No matter how many times you use it, the blade will never go dull. Keep it close."

Dropping the sword he gripped me with the tightest hug I had ever felt. He sure had Theresa's grip.

He watched me as I waved goodbye from the boat. He had a face full of stubble now, his hair was messy and dirt covered his clothes. He wasn't a boy anymore. He was a man. From that point of my existence, I knew that my job was truly done. I had felt more peace than ever before.

* * *

><p><strong>Herry<strong>

Seeing sunlight for the first time in weeks was a releif, but not as much as seeing ashlynns face for real. We made out for a solid five minutes before noticing that we had an audience of around 30 people, all around our age.

"Herry!" I heard my name called. It was Sean! My old friend from school. He ran to me and we greeted me with a good old fashioned man hug.

"Sean you Irish son of a bitch. How did you survive?"

"When war broke out, I joined the navy. About a month after you dissappeared conscription was called for national emergency. I lied about my age and joined. We fought here at mount Olympus, but I got gutted by some asshole wearing gold armour. I thought I was a gonner. I was waiting for the boat when I say you, your dad and that bald chick. He stepped on the boat and suddenly, I woke up again in real life."

I patted him on the back. "This world would be boring as fuck without you man."

He smiled. "So where were you all this time?"

"Later, where are we?"

"At mount Olympus," said Ashlynn.

"Isn't the city of the gods here?"

"Not anymore. The gods, the darkness, they're all gone. They sacrificed themselves to rebirth the planet. We're all that's left."

"So I guess that it's up to us then."

"We'll follow you Herry, son of Jay." She said. I looked to the horizon. The sun was setting and staying on the top of a mountain was an unwise idea for settling.

"That way looks promising." I said, pointing west to a luscious valley at the feet of the mountains. We walked . I at the lead and Ashlynn by my side. She held my hand tightly, yet comfortingly. We had made it thorugh all the trials of the past, and were ready to face the future together. I loved her with every inch of my heart, and I knew she loved me back. We were ready to begin the new lives of ourselves, and our race.

* * *

><p><strong>Jay:<strong>

Elysium fields smelt sweetly of spring flowers. The sun seemed to appear to be late noon and I walked a small gravel road with walls of birch trees. I came across a familiar sight. I narrow house what seemed like a section of a townhouse. I got closer when I realized that was exactly what it was.

The brownstone.

There appeared to be six people circling around a campfire in the side yard. The entire place was surrounded by tall trees with forests which went beyond sight. I stepped out of the shade of the trees and they all turned to see me.

One looked at me with solemn eyes and square glasses, another with massive biceps and cheeky sideburns, there was silky blonde hair on another with a blinding smile, there was one with a purple mullet, another with messy red hair.

And there they were. The same eyes I had just said farewell on the far side of the styx. The ones that I missed the most. She had never looked this beautiful ever before. We all looked like we did when we were teenagers. Myself included.

Running into my embrace, Theresa whispered,

"Jay, welcome home."

**And that is the end, my friends. It has been quite a ride. I question whether I will write more on this site, but if I do, I will have some big shoes to fill. Now, this story is left to all of you. Review to your hearts delight wether it be within the hour or within many years, it is irrelevant. I bid you all a good farewell,**

**Sam.**


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